Pain
by General Junos
Summary: It is a well known fact that Zaraki Kenpachi does not know his zanpakuto's name. It is not known, however, that were he given the opportunity, he would go to great lengths to learn it. -Rated T for language- COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

Week after week, the same thing. The same -fucking- thing. Zaraki Kenpachi would stand in line with the other Captains, listening to the old man rattle off up to date info about Soul Society, Seireitei and the real world... Kenpachi didn't care. Why would he? Why -should- he? Unless something was going on which would require Kenpachi to kick someone or somethings ass, he couldn't care less about what the old man had to say.

And so Kenpachi stood there, wondering how much sake he had hidden away in his office... That was one of the things he was good at - looking as though he were paying attention, as though he cared. Having to watch out for Yachiru was great practice. He cared deeply for the girl, that was obvious to most people (although they didn't know -why- and weren't stupid enough to ask), but to be honest, listening to her go on and on about candy, or things she saw in Rukongai could get annoying. If she were anyone else, Kenpachi would tell her to shut up and leave him alone, in a fairly rude manner. But it was Yachiru, and rather than hurt her feelings, he pretended to show interest in her ramblings.

After wondering about the sake, his mind began to think of other things. Kenpachi found himself looking at his fellow Captains and, in a strange way, began inventorying their strength in comparison to his.

First there was the amazoness, leader of the Onmitsukido and one of the few female Captains. Inwardly, Kenpachi snorted; yeah, she was a strong woman, as women went, but a fight with her would be a waste of time. It'd be over before it started.

The new Captain, Mister I-Can't-Hold-My-Liquor or something... Kenpachi didn't know much about him, nor what his powers were like since he didn't overlook his test. But from what he heard, and from the new Captain's aura, Kenpachi saw no contest.

The second, and last female Captain, the prissy healer. Were Kenpachi not in the meeting, he would just -laugh-. He was pretty sure he would kill that Captain, inadvertently, if they were to ever fight. Damn healer chick and her Squad... a Squad full of pussies as far as he was concerned.

The Nobleman. Stuck up snot. How the hell had Ichigo had such a problem with that Captain? Pink flowers and swords? Pfft... pussy. Strong battle aura, sure, but not stronger than Kenpachi.

Foxface. He was a friend of the blind man, wasn't he? "Friends" as far as Kenpachi was concerned, usually had the same virtues, and as the blind guy was so caught up on justice (a disgusting weakness, Kenpachi thought), he figured Foxface was too. Justice would only prevent a person from using his highest potential.

Eighth Squad womanizer. He might give Kenpachi some fun, but he was the type to "make love, not war," so it'd be a waste of time if they fought. Unless he would strike up a full blown battle aura, like Ichigo, his strength was nothing compared to Kenpachi's.

Child prodigy. Kenpachi inwardly laughed.

Psycho scientist. In a way, Mayuri gave Kenpachi the creeps, but he -did- help create his eye patch. For that, Kenpachi respected him, but that was it. Science could never beat brute strength.

The sick cripple. Could he even wield his zanpakuto anymore?

Lastly, there was the old man. Kenpachi had heard rumors, and in a way, he supposed the old man was one of the strongest, but Kenpachi didn't -feel- any aura emanating from the old man. Maybe he was just getting too old. Even if the old man could still fight, he was too stuck up on rules. He would only limit his strength by following them.

Overall, Kenpachi was fairly annoyed, and disappointed, that none of his fellow Captains could put up a fight like Ichigo could. As far as Kenpachi believed, he was the strongest Captain. Sure, it was a nice inflation to his ego, but it was also fairly boring. Now, if those traitors, Aizen and Ichimaru, were still around... -They- would put up good fights.

Adjusting his weight to rest on his left foot, Kenpachi peered to his right. The old man was still rambling. Ugh, how long would this meeting last? Before Kenpachi could go back to thinking about his sake, something caused him to stand up straight; something had caught his attention.

Turning to look towards the entrance, the 11th Squad Captain stared at the door. But rather than see a person walk in, he felt an immensely strong aura. And despite himself, he grinned. -This- was the type of aura he had wished one of the other Captains had. -This- was the type of aura Ichigo had. But it lacked one thing Ichigo's aura had: fear. Kenpachi felt his tongue run over his lips. Whoever this person was, Kenpachi wanted to fight him.

"After having passed the taishushiken before myself and two other Captains, Akuuno Keiko will be filling the position of 9th Squad Captain," the old man's voice reached Kenpachi's ears.

Her? The strong aura that Kenpachi was salivating over was a woman? He... was not expecting that.

The old man finally ended the meeting. Normally, Kenpachi would make a beeline for the exit, but he found himself staring at the new Captain. She was off to the side, speaking to the cripple and amazoness. The first and foremost thing in his mind was that he needed to fight this woman. He didn't know how, or when, but he knew he -had- to.

Kenpachi was not the type of person to think; he acted. But for the first time in a while, his mind went into over drive as he tried to think of a way...

* * *

"If there's anything you need, or have any questions, feel free to ask," Ukitake-taichou smiled down at Keiko, as friendly as ever.

Keiko returned the smile. "Thank you. It's nice to know a few Captains are so nice," she replied.

"I'll show you to your Squad," Soifon-taichou cut in, turning to look at the shorter woman.

Keiko nodded, first to Ukitake-taichou, then to Soifon-taichou. The newer Captain followed the 2nd Squad Captain towards the exit, but paused, her brow furrowing. A slight shiver ran up her spine before she turned around to find a very -large- man, standing across the room, staring at her. She raised an eyebrow, slightly curious as to why the bulldozer of a man would find such an interest in her, but when she caught his gaze, she simply smiled.

"You should probably avoid him," Soifon-taichou muttered, watching Keiko.

"What, is he gonna eat me or something?" she chuckled, turning to look back at Soifon-taichou.

The leader of the Onmitsukido shook her head before grabbing Keiko by the wrist and physically pulling her out of the meeting room. "No," she started, letting go of Keiko once they were walking towards Squad Nine. "Zaraki is..." Soifon-taichou paused, trying to think of a word. When nothing polite or poetic reached her tongue, she finished with: "psychotic."

Keiko stared at the older woman.

Seeing that her description didn't help things, Soifon-taichou remained silent for a few moments, trying to find some way to describe the 11th Squad Captain to the newest Captain. "He just isn't the type of person you want to associate with. He is a strong Captain, perhaps -the- strongest, but he doesn't always follow the rules. He's reckless, wild and I'm pretty certain he's mentally insane."

Keiko couldn't help but laugh at Soifon-taichou. For as long as she had known the older Captain, Keiko had never heard her speak ill of another person.

"Besides," Soifon-taichou continued, "he's the only Captain around now who actually killed the previous Captain to take his place. He doesn't even know his zanpakuto's name, and thus is the only Captain who cannot release his bankai. And anyway, by the way he was looking at you, he more than likely only wants to pick a fight with you."

Didn't know his zanpakuto's name... couldn't use a bankai... Keiko found this very interesting, and filed it away for possible future use. When the last thing Soifon-taichou said finally reached her mind, Keiko tilted her head to the side. "Sounds like fun." She grinned when the older woman frowned. "What, can you blame me?"

Soifon-taichou simply sighed and shook her head. "Just don't say I didn't warn you." She stopped and pointed before her. "And here is your Squad. Like Ukitake-taichou said, if there's anything you need, just ask."

"Thank you, Soifon-oneesan," Keiko grinned.

The older woman shook her head, but smiled before bidding Keiko farewell and returning to her own Squad.

Once alone, Keiko inhaled deeply, her hands slipping into the opposite sleeves of her Captain's jacket and gripping her forearms. So, she was officially the Captain of the Ninth Squad. In a way, it was intimidating, but she smiled to herself and made her way towards the Squad's main building.

* * *

"Hisagi-fukutaichou, do you know anything about our new Captain?"

"I heard it's a woman!"

"We don't need a Captain!"

Hisagi Shuuhei sighed quietly as his eyes wandered over the assembled 9th Squad, his Squad, as it had been since Tosen turned traitor. No matter how many times he explained it, they seemed to still have questions. He didn't know a thing about their new Captain, and apparently, they still found it necessary to ask him a thousand questions he couldn't answer.

"I've already told you all what I know, and, admittedly, it's not much, but it's all I know. All we can do is wait." When he saw quite a few annoyed or downtrodden faces, and a low murmur broke out, he added: "And please don't act like Squad Three did when they met their new Captain. I don't want to hear anything about -our- Squad being rude or impolite." After a few moments, the murmurs subsided, and a few people nodded. Shuuhei was glad to see his Squad act like adults.

"It's so quiet. You'd think someone died or something."

Startled, Shuuhei quickly turned around to find Keiko standing directly behind him and grinning up him. "Keiko-chan?" An eyebrow raised as he looked over the short woman wearing a Captain's jacket.

"The one and only," she replied, the grin softening into a smile. Reaching out, she gripped his hand. "It's been a while, Shuuhei-kun," she murmured, so only he could hear.

With a laugh, Shuuhei returned the grip and shook her hand. "I'm fairly surprised that -you're- our new Captain," he smirked. Before he could say much more, he heard a murmur grow behind him. Letting go of Keiko's hand, he turned around, arms crossing over his chest as he looked back at his Squad. "Apparently, I know a lot more about our new Captain than I thought." Turning so he was facing both the Squad and Keiko, he motioned to her with a hand. "Everyone, meet Akuuno Keiko, an old friend of mine and our new Captain."

For a few moments, it seemed as though Squad Nine wasn't sure what to think. They were torn between not -wanting- a new Captain and their fukutaichou's familiarity with her. Finally siding with trusting Hisagi's judgment, a few smiles and nods broke out.

Keiko smiled solemnly at her Squad, waiting until all the murmurs finally died out. "As Hisagi-fukutaichou has already said, my name is Akuuno Keiko, and I am your new Captain. I know it's not the easiest thing to have a Captain flung on you when one turned traitor and abandoned you. And I'm sure Hisagi-fukutaichou has done a wonderful job, but please, if you can't trust me just yet, then trust him. Before either of us became Shinigami, we worked together on many of our entrance exams, so we know how to work well together. So I hope -we- can work well together." With that, she smiled and bowed low.

There was an awkward silence, mostly caused by the mention of their former Captain. But putting that aside, more smiles broke out, a few people clapped, and many more bowed to their Captain in response.

Standing back up, a grin on her face, Keiko held a sake bottle in the air, which had apparently appeared out of no where. "Now, I hear it's becoming tradition to drink the night away when a new Captain joins Seireitei, so who wants to say screw training for the day and get piss ass drunk with me?" Immediately, the entirety of Squad 9 broke out into cheers and hoots.

Shuuhei laughed at his Squad's reaction. In a way, it wasn't a way a Squad should act, but he was glad to see everyone in high spirits. Leaning forward, he muttered in his Captain's ear: "It's not really tradition… More so a very stupid idea of Matsumoto's to help out Kira."

Keiko snorted a laugh after one of her Squad members took the bottle from her. "I know, but it's a wonderful idea. Just doesn't work so well when the Captain can't hold his liquor," she turned to grin at him. "Honestly though. I'm glad to be working with you again."

He smirked and nodded, turning to look towards the already rowdy Squad. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Tomorrow," she nodded. With a laugh, she took one of the cups of sake offered to her and blended in with the crowd, taking the night to get to know her Squad. She, unlike Amagai Shuusuke, could hold her liquor. But she had never been a big drinker, so she spent the time sipping at the same drink for the rest of the night.

* * *

Onmitsukido - Covert Ops, Special Forces; lead by Soifon

taishushiken - test used to pass / fail those who would try for Captain rank

taichou - ending given to the Captains of the Gotei 13; "unit commander"

oneesan - ending Keiko gives to Soifon (in private) to show respect, admiration and familiarity to her mentor; literally "sister"

fukutaichou - ending given to the lieutenants of the Gotei 13; "vice-unit commander"

**Names**

Each break is, semi-obviously, representative of either a change in time, or a change in view. Depending on which character is in control of the story, I try to make the whole occurance stronger by changes in names.

For example, with the exception of Aizen and Ichimaru, he doesn't refer to -any- of the Gotei 13 by their names. (Truth be told, it's been a while since I've seen the first arc of BLEACH, so I can't remember, for the life of me, who he called by what -actual- names.) Unless he feels they can match him in a duel, or at least give him quite a bit of excitement, he will not refer to them by their name (hence: Ichigo, Aizen, Ichimaru). Mind, it isn't exactly meant as being rude, it's just my way of how Kenpachi expresses his respect of peopele.

Then there's Keiko. Being new and mindful of it, she refers to everyone with their proper ending. I even put this throughout her parts outside of the dialogue to stress it. Yeah, I know it can get annoying reading "taichou, taichou, taichou" over and over again, but let's be honest, after a while, our eyes ignore it.

And last, Shuuhei. I had thought of giving Tosen a description rather than a name, due to the betrayal. However, I feel Shuuhei still has a little respect for the man, thus showing it through using his name, albeit his last name and without proper ending.

**Captain/lieutenant**

These are not grammatical errors. I purposely capitalize Captain while leaving lieutenant lowercase to stress the difference in rank.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me._


	2. Chapter 2

When the sun rose the next morning, Keiko woke up a few minutes after it, a smile coming to her lips, where it stayed while she showered, changed and left her room. The bulk of the Squad had taken her words to heart and drank the night away, and because of it, most of them were sprawled out on the floor of the 9th Squad house, snoring loudly. Keiko chuckled quietly, making her way cautiously through the ocean of sleeping bodies. Once outside, she sighed, hands slipping into opposite sleeves as she stared up at the sky. She had been worried that the previous night might have gone in a different direction, but she was lucky, and happy, that the transition went as smoothly as it did for her new Squad. The one thing that had played over and over in her mind was how Soifon-oneesan had felt and acted when Yoruichi-sama left, and Keiko was almost certain it was pretty much the same for Squad Nine when Tosen left, if not worse.

The sound of a door sliding open behind her pulled Keiko from her thoughts, and she craned her head to watch as her lieutenant slipped outside and shut the door behind him. "You're up early," she commented, turning to look back up at the sky.

Hisagi-fukutaichou shrugged, although Keiko couldn't see it. He made his way beside her and leaned against one of the roof's support beams, his gaze also drawn up to the sky before them. "Kinda' used to it."

Having to act as Captain and suddenly take on all the responsibilities of one, she should have realized he'd force himself to get up early every morning to make sure things got done. "I know it wasn't any fault of my own, but I feel terrible for what happened to you and this Squad, as I feel bad for the other Squads it hapened to. But I want to make things right for everyone. You included."

Glancing at his Captain from the corner of his eye, Hisagi-fukutaichou smiled. "I won't lie. I'll be pretty glad to give up some of the responsibilities," he chuckled quietly, returning his gaze to the sky.

"I am not, however, touching the paper. That's still all yours."

He quickly turned to find her grinning up at him and he frowned.

"Hey, you've been doing it for a while, you're good at it, why interrupt that?" she continued to grin.

"You just don't want anything to do with it."

"Bingo!"

Rolling his eyes, he shook his head before turning away from her. "What ever happened to you, anyway?" he changed the subject. "One day you literally disappeared."

"Onmitsukido," Keiko nodded. "After one of the exams, they scooped me up and trained me. The whole thing was fairly hush-hush." When she saw him looking at her with a confused look on his face, she shrugged. "Think of it this way, aside from Soifon-taichou, you don't know -who- is in the Covert Ops, do you?" After a moment, Hisagi-fukutaichou shook his head. "It's just how they operate. No one knew who we really were. They knew what we did, what areas we specialized in, but no one ever knew our -names-. In a way, it sucked, because aside from the other members, you didn't have any friends, or know anyone else. But at the same time, it was pretty exciting." At that, she couldn't help but grin.

"So how did -you- wind up being our Captain?" he smirked, poking fun at her.

She rolled her eyes at him before responding: "Soifon-taichou recommended me. I was part of the first division, the Keigun. Long story short, I made my way through ranks and wound up Gundancho, leader of that division, though still under direct command of Soifon-soushireikan." There was, in all honesty, a lot more than that to her story, but there were things she had been sworn to keep secret, mostly for her own protection. And when her lieutenant didn't push it any further, she changed subjects. "Who are 'Matsumoto' and 'Kira,' by the way? You mentioned them yesterday."

Hisagi-fukutaichou raised an eyebrow. "They're Squad 10 and 3 lieutenants, respectively. I figured you knew of them."

Keiko shook her head. "No. I -just- learned the names of the Captains yesterday. The Onmitsukido operates completely seperate from the Gotei 13, so aside from critical information about Soul Society, I didn't know about anyone, Captains, lieutenants and Shinigami all included."

After a brief silence, Hisagi-fukutaichoi commented: "You've changed."

She snorted. "Like you haven't?"

"I'm serious. You've grown up. You're stronger, more mature. Nothing like that bungling child that I remember who couldn't perform kidou properly."

"Child? As I recall, I'm the older one," she stuck her tongue out at him, like old times, and the two shared a laugh. "Besides. Think about what you just said. It's exactly the same for you, kid."

Hisagi-fukutaichou shrugged, but knew it was true.

"Anyway," she turned to face him fully. "I wasn't planning on having the Squad train today. I need to learn where everything is, and who people are, so, they'll get the day off while I do my own homework. Would my lieutenant be so kind as to be my escort for the day?"

With a light laugh, he nodded and pushed away from the wooden beam. "Of course. Let's go."

* * *

He could always just confront her and just demand she fought him. But that wouldn't be fun.

Kenpachi could count on one hand the number of fights he had had that had truely excited him. The two with Ikkaku, the one with Ichigo, and the one with that Dark One. In each instance, his opponent -wanted- to fight him (or, in Ichigo's case -had- to fight him), and -that- made them so exciting, so worthwhile. So he couldn't simply walk up to the new Captain and demand she fight him. If she didn't want to, then, where would the fun be? And having quickly run out of ideas, Kenpachi had confronted his Third Seat, the only man who also understood Kenpachi's need to fight, who understood the excitement, the adrenaline rush.

"You could just -ask-," Ikkaku spoke up from his spot on the floor. The bald headed man was lying on the Squad floor reading a magazine (one of the souvenirs he had brought back with him from the real world).

"Most women will not simply agree to a fight. It wouldn't be beautiful," came Yumichika's non surprising reply. The Fifth Seat was sitting behind a table, reading over some paperwork.

"Not all women care about -beauty-," Ikkaku snorted, sarcastically lingering on the last word. "Besides, the aura the Captain felt off this chick isn't exactly... feminine."

Yumichika visibly shuddered and promptly took his leave of the conversation; women who were not interested in beauty did not interest the Fifth Seat. With that, he poured all of his attention into the paperwork before him.

Kenpachi scowled. No matter how he looked at it, he could not think of a viable -reason- to fight the woman. Sure, he generally didn't need a reason to do anything, but again, it brought him right back to the problem: if he were, in any way, to start a fight with her, there was no guarantee the woman would use the full extent of her powers.

With a shrug, Ikkaku rolled onto his back, raising the magazine into the air above him. "Either she's just a cold-hearted bitch and had some traumatic event to cause her to train and end up as a Captain, or she's as battle hungry as you. I still say you just ask."

Kenpachi snorted and finished off a round of sake before slamming the cup onto the ground. "No."

Lowering the magazine and peering over at his Captain, Ikkaku bit his lip before speaking up: "There's always Yachiru."

"What?" Kenpachi raised an eyebrow.

Ikkaku tossed the magazine onto the floor beside him and sat up. "She's small, she's innocent. Any woman I know has a soft spot for her. Send her at the new Captain and Yachiru can probably get her to do anything for her. Or at least ask her so many questions, Yachiru might find out something useful about her."

Truth be told, Kenpachi didn't exactly like -using- Yachiru in such a fashion, but... it might just work. Grinning in anticipation, he stood up and immediately went on a search for his lieutenant.

"Two birds with one stone," Ikkaku grinned before flopping back down onto the floor.

Yumichika looked up with a raised eyebrow.

"Not only will that -probably- help the Captain out, but it will keep Yachiru away from us for a while."

Yumichika opened his mouth to say something, but promptly closed it and nodded. He, like anyone else in the Squad, always felt a little less stressed when they knew Yachiru wouldn't be around to "play" with them.

* * *

"I think my head's going to explode..." Keiko muttered, rubbing her forehead. She and Hisagi-fukutaichou had just exited Squad Ten, where she had been formerly introduced to both Captain and lieutenant. Starting from Squad Three, the two Shinigami made their way throughout Seireitei, Hisagi-fukutaichou pointing out which Squad was located where, along with other points of interest. Feeling that she should try to be a bit sociable, she insisted they enter each Squad so that she could meet the Captains and lieutenants. She hadn't, however, expected to get such a headache from trying to remember everyone's name, as a few of the Captains or lieutenants also pointed out a few of their high rank Seated Shinigami.

"In the Onmitsukido, you were only introduced to people in your own division. There aren't exactly that many in each, so it's easy to remember everyone's name, even if you had very little contact with them," she explained to her lieutenant, rubbing her eyes before shaking her head.

"You sure that's why your head hurts? I think it might have been from staring at Matsumoto's chest for so long," Hisagi-fukutaichou laughed.

Stopping in her tracks, Keiko stared at him before moving her hands out and motioning to her own chest. "But.. they're... huge! How could I -not- stare! I don't know how you -didn't-!" she exclaimed. "Besides, I don't understand how her back doesn't kill her."

Hisagi-fukutaichou merely shook his head and continued to laugh. "Come on, we still have three more Squads to visit."

Muttering something about how Matsumoto-fukutaichou's chest went against nature, Keiko followed Hisagi-fukutaichou and turned a corner to make their way towards Squad 11, but, for the second time, stopped in her tracks. She tilted her head to the side and stared down at the small pink headed girl who was standing in front of her and Shuuhei-fukutaichou.

"Are you the new Captain?" Yachiru asked, staring up at Keiko, her pointer finger touching her lips.

Keiko felt her heart immediately warm to the child. She was just... too cute. "Yes, I am," she replied, crouching down so that she was closer to the girl's height. Taking note of the lieutenant insignia at the girl's arm, she reached out and offered her hand: "My name's Akuuno Keiko. What's yours?"

With a winningly cute grin, Yachiru-fukutaichou grabbed Keiko's hand and shook it. "Kusajishi Yachiru!"

"Well, Yachiru-fukutaichou, it's nice to meet you. You're the 11th Squad lieutenant?" Keiko asked, motioning to the insignia.

Yachiru-fukutaichou continued to grin and nodded.

A young child, too cute to boot, was the lieutenant of Squad 11, the Squad, from what she heard, was the most ruthless and wild. The Squad run by the man Soifon-oneesan had warned her about, Zaraki Kenpachi. Keiko found it increasingly strange that this girl was a lieutenant, and not just a lieutenant, but of the most notorious Squad in Seireitei. She had learned early in life not to judge a book by it's cover, and keeping that in mind, she warned herself from letting Yachiru-fukutaichou's adoring disposition throw her off guard.

"Well, would you mind introducing me to your Captain? I'd like to meet him."

Reaching out, Yachiru-fukutaichou grabbed Keiko's hand and began pulling. "Of course! Ken-chan wants to meet you too!"

Eyebrow raised, Keiko glanced at Hisagi-fukutaichou who only shrugged and followed the two girls.

* * *

keigun - first division of the Onmitsukido; "executive millitia"

Gundancho - leader of each division of the Onmitsukido; "corps commander"

soushireikan - title given to the leader of Onmitsukido; "commander-in-chief", "Lieutenant General"

kidou - sorcery used by Shinigami; "way of the demon"

Edit: Apparently, I'm still getting used to editing documents in because multiple grammar and spelling mistakes (which I could have SWORN I fixed) were not really fixed. But now they are. Sorry about that.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos._


	3. Chapter 3

"Ken-chan! Ken-chan! I brought the new Captain like you asked!"

Groaning, and nearly smacking himself in the face for actually thinking things would work out so easily when Yachiru was involved, Kenpachi closed his eye. There was absolutely no point in talking to Yachiru later as she had done what -she- thought Kenpachi wanted her to do. After Ikkaku's suggestion, Kenpachi quickly found his lieutenant and explained to her that he wanted to find out anything interesting about the new Captain, and that if she did a good job, he would buy her some candy. Apparently the only things that had actually entered her mind were: candy, new Captain, candy, Ken-chan wants to know the new Captain, candy if she does it right.

At the sound of stomping feet and the giggling of Yachiru, Kenpachi looked up from his spot on the floor, cup of sake in hand. Any thought that he might have had about being frustrated with Yachiru was instantly gone. That aura... that deliciously strong aura. It nearly made him shudder just from the -thought- of fighting it.

Yachiru had finally let go of the Captain's hand and stood in front of Kenpachi, her hands clasped behind her back, swaying on her feet, a huge smile on her face as she hummed.

Looking down at her, he motioned with his chin. "In my room. Bottom drawer."

The girl immediately squealed, jumped and turned around before running out of the room, her arms held out as though she were an airplane.

"Your lieutenant said you wished to meet me?"

Slightly startled by the voice, Kenpachi looked up at the new Captain to see her staring down at him. For a few moments, all Kenpachi could think about crossing blades, laughing sadistically, pouring all of his being into a full blown fight with this woman. He was finally torn away from his reveries by the woman's hand being thrust in his face.

"Akuuno Keiko, 9th Squad Captain," she spoke, offering her hand to him.

He wanted to snort, to make some harsh comment about her politeness, but he couldn't bring himself to doing it. "I know who you are," was his only response, a smirk on his lips as he reached out to grip her hand. The idea? Put as much pressure on her hand to see how much she could take. It was a test, pure and simple. Kenpachi was not disappointed.

For every ounce of pressure he added to the squeeze of his hand, she merely matched it, and he was thrilled to see a grin on her face, not a look of pain. Staring up at her, he could see the lust of battle hunger in her eyes, the same thing that was purely evident in his own. So, Ikkaku was right.

"And I know who you are, Zaraki Kenpachi," she grinned, not letting go of his hand.

At this point, the hand shake was no longer a test but an actual fight. Whoever let go first would be considered the weaker. It seemed it was something that both Captains understood, because after a few moments, at nearly the same exact time, they let go of each others hand; neither of them wanted to be disappointed.

"Tomorrow, noon," he finally spoke up.

"Execution grounds," came her reply.

And just like that, their duel had been scheduled.

It appeared he didn't even have to ask, that this new Captain, this battle-crazed woman, wanted to fight him just as badly as he wanted to fight her. For the second time, Kenpachi had fallen into his own personal reveries, thinking about his past battles, about tomorrow's upcoming fight. He barely noticed Ikkaku and Yumichika introducing themselves to the woman, as well as her departure.

"I told you all you had to do was ask."

Peering down at Ikakku, Kenpachi merely smirked. There was no way he could bring himself to smacking or ragging on his Third Seat for that 'I told you so' comment. He couldn't be angry. He couldn't be upset, even when he eventually found out Yachiru had stolen all of his money. No, Kenpachi was excited. Kenpachi was -happy-, and nothing, -nothing- was going to ruin that.

* * *

"What exactly just happened?" Hisagi-fukutaichou asked as he and Keiko exited the 11th Squad.

Keiko grinned up at her lieutenant. "Tomorrow, noon, at the execution grounds."

Apparently, that meant nothing to him, because he merely stared at his Captain.

"Zaraki Kenpachi and I are going to have ourselves a little.. duel."

Stopping in his tracks, Hisagi-fukutaichou continued to stare at Keiko, eyebrow raised. "-Why-?"

"Like you said," she replied, turning around and now walking backwards, as though trying to get her lieutenant to keep moving. "I've changed."

With a scowl now upon his lips, Hisagi-fukutaichou shook his head before continuing forward. "I hope you know what you're doing. Zaraki is nothing more than a human battering ram. He doesn't feel pain. He's... an animal."

"I know," she smiled, turning back around to walk beside him. 'And he's too much like me to pass up a fight...' she thought to herself. Keiko had wondered why Kenpachi had stared at her the way he did when she was first introduced to the rest of the Captains. After learning about him through various people, and then finally meeting him in person... Oh, that handshake! Well, technically it was more of a 'hand grip', but that didn't matter. Keiko had finally found a person who would match her in a fight, and it caused shivers of anticipation to run up her spine. She, like Kenpachi, was excited.

Pushing her personal thoughts onto a back burner, Keiko continued to follow Hisagi-fukutaichou as he showed her around Seireitei and introduced her to the remaining Captains and lieutenants.

--

By the time Keiko finished her rounds of sociability, it was fairly late in the day, and she was exhausted. "No more names... no more people," she whined, trudging back to Squad Nine with Hisagi-fukutaichou.

"You weren't whining last night when you were meeting everyone in our Squad," he pointed out.

"Yeah, but I would be a horrible Captain if I didn't know everyone in my Squad. I don't -care- about other Squad's high ranked Seats," she countered with a scowl. "Besides, no one in -our- Squad has a chest that defies nature, or a need to experiment on anything that walks by."

"I can't believe you're still caught up on Matsumoto's chest."

"But it's just... a... but... GUH!" She was at a loss for words.

Hisagi-fukutaichou merely laughed.

"Men," Keiko muttered under her breath after sending a glare at her lieutenant. But quickly, her annoyance disappeared as she remembered what tomorrow would bring: a fight with Kenpachi. How long had it been since she had been in a fight where she could go all out? Thinking back on it, never. Truthfully, even the fight with Kenpachi would not allow her to use the full extent of her powers, but that was only based on one thing: bankai. If Kenpachi could not use his, she would not use hers. Was it fair? To a degree, no, and it might even piss the big man off, but in a way, Keiko didn't care because--

Keiko and Hisagi-fukutaichou stopped in the entrance of the 9th Squad house. Almost immediately, a rush of people surged forward.

"Is it true?"

"Are you really going to fight Kenpachi?"

The emotions of the Squad ran from fear, amazement, anxiety and excitement, all tinged with a bit of pride. How had the news spread so fast?

For a while, Keiko just sighed and answered the hundreds of questions thrown at her. It took a while, but soon she began to realize that the fight might do the entirety of her Squad a world of good.

Despite the warm welcome she had received yesterday, she knew that most of the Squad either still didn't trust her or know what to think of her, because, to be honest, having been a part of the Onmitsukido, she literally hadn't -existed- until yesterday. Perhaps, if they all saw her fight tomorrow, all hesitation, all reserves would be wiped away. If they were -shown- how strong their Captain was, perhaps they would start to place their trust in her. Perhaps the entire morale of the Squad would increase, which would be good for everyone.

The excitement emitting from Keiko was so strong, it was almost tangible, and like a yawn, it was infectious. Within minutes, the entire Squad was rowdy and excited, becoming just as impatient as Keiko knew she was.

Raising her hands in the air to call for silence, she waited until she got it. "Since word has already spread so fast, and I'm sure almost all of Squad 11 will be there, there probably won't be any harm in everyone coming to watch tomorrow," she announced. "I may still be very new to my position and the goings-on in Seireitei, but it doesn't take a genius to realize the notorious reputation Squad 11 has. Because of that, I expect -everyone- to be on their best behavior, no matter what happens. I know that our Squad is one of the few that can tolerate Zaraki-taichou's Squad, but I'm hoping it will turn out to be more than that. I'm hoping that -our- Squad can show the rest of Seireitei that anyone can look past the reputations, the gossip, and have good relations with -all- Squads."

A quiet murmur grew from the crowd. Like yesterday, they weren't sure exactly what to think of what their Captain had just said. But when someone in the back yelled: "No matter what happens, we know -our- Captain has more balls than any other Captain for challenging Zaraki!" Keiko laughed at the comment, and the excitement within Squad Nine continued to grow.

It wasn't until later at night when she finally laid down to sleep that Keiko realized the repercussions her fight may have. She knew, especially after the warning, that Soifon-oneesan would not be happy. And then there was always Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou... "A Captain of the Goteijuusantai should not partake is such barbarous actions," she could picture both of them scolding her. And as a Captain, she should, technically, care about it and do something about it, but things had already been put into motion. Not only that, but if she had to explain herself, she would, and Keiko felt she was in the right for it all.

Smile forming on her lips, the Ninth Squad Captain fell asleep.

* * *

soutaichou - title given to the leader of the Gotei 13; "commander-general"

Goteijuusantai - Gotei 13; "13 Division Imperial Guards"

**Names, Part 2**

Kenpachi does not refer to Keiko by her real name, despite the fact he already has a growing respect for her. Until the two fight, he will continue to refer to her as "the woman" or "the new Captain."

Keiko does not give Kenpachi his proper ending of -taichou when she speaks of him (unless it is before the entirety of her Squad). She views him, as he does her, as a very similar soul. They both find themselves in battles, they both hunger for battles. As she refers to herself as Keiko, thus she refers to him as Kenpachi, first name, no honorifics.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos._


	4. Chapter 4

Despite his reputation for being lazy (unless it came to fighting), Kenpachi didn't sleep much. Very often, he would just doze off for short amounts of time, and very rarely, he would lie down to sleep for a few, scant hours. Some would speculate it was because the giant of a man didn't need to sleep, but that was only part of the problem. In all technicality, it was Kenpachi's spirit energy that usually prevented him from sleeping. He, unlike the rest of the Captains, did not have control over his own energy, which was, of course, the main reason he wore his eye patch; it was one of the few ways to contain his energy. The inability to control his energy, and the large excess which his body seemed to exude, were the two main reasons why he didn't sleep. Thankfully, it was something he had gotten used to decades ago.

And that was why Kenpachi, and the entirety of his Squad, were at the execution grounds nearly an hour before the scheduled time. Not only had he not slept the night before, but he was just downright impatient.

Perched atop a boulder, Kenpachi stared down at the dirt ground, his zanpakuto unsheathed and resting against his shoulder, every so often bouncing against it. The rest of his Squad, Yachiru included, stood some feet away, a buzz echoing through the otherwise empty grounds as they spoke to each other. Like their Captain, they were excited; it was a rare occurrence to see Zaraki Kenpachi pour everything he had into a fight, and each and every one of the members of the 11th Squad were excited and -proud- to finally be able to see it happen. Sure, there were quite a few nay-sayers in the crowd - how could a -woman- even -think- of being able to pit up against Kenpachi? But a glare from the small lieutenant shut them up; if Kenpachi said it was true, it was true. Who were they to argue?

As the sun was reaching zenith, the shuffle and scuttle of footsteps began to grow as Squad 9 made their own approach to the location. Looking up from the ground, a large, feral grin spread out over Kenpachi's lips as he stared at the approaching woman. But what he was seeing wasn't the new Captain, rather, all he saw was her aura - large, strong and pulsating. Probably due to the abundance of his own energy, Kenpachi was abnormally sensitive to spirit energy; whether or not a person was purposely giving off an aura, Kenpachi could actually -see- it and feel it as though it were tangible.

Licking his lips, he stood up, and immediately, his entire Squad was silenced. He watched as the woman motioned for her Squad to stay back, then closed the distance between herself and Kenpachi, her arms folded into the opposite sleeves of her Captan's haori. To those insensitive to spirit energy, it looked as though Kenpachi was staring at the woman with such intensity that he either wanted to kill her or ravage her. But the truth was quite the opposite; he could -not- take his eyes off her -aura-, so disturbingly like his and yet so... He couldn't put a word on it. It was just as battle hungry as his own, just as aggressive, just as lethal. He could feel her need for bloodlust just as he felt his own. And yet, there was still something so different about her aura that it almost disturbed him for not being able to identify -what-.

"Before we start, there's just one thing I want to know."

His eye focused on the physical plane, meeting her gaze.

"Just -why- do you want to fight me?"

He couldn't help but laugh. "Why are you asking a question you already know the answer to, woman?"

Her response was intoxicating; her aura nearly doubled in size and intensity, and Kenpachi could literally feel electricity in the air. Goosebumps rose on his flesh.

A laugh grew from his stomach, up through his chest and out his throat as his own aura responded to hers. Without a second thought, his laugh having turned to a maniacal cackle, Kenpachi reached up and tore the eye patch off his eye, his aura rushing outwards and expanding beyond it's normal boundaries, flaring around him in flames of yellow energy. He was exhilarated! He was ecstatic! He was -free-!

A sadistic smile spread out over Keiko's lips, and her eyes narrowed and focused, a tinge of red seeming to come to her irises. Her body shivered in anxious anticipation, and her aura grew to meet Kenpachi's, red flames of energy to match his yellow. For a short while, the two Captains stood staring at each other, both allowing their spirit energy to expand from their bodies causing the air around them to become dangerously hot. Wind from their sheer power caused their clothes to whip about violently, and when their auras would no longer grow, it bled into their eyes; Keiko's normal golden eyes shimmered red, Kenpachi's gray to yellow.

Reaching down and back to her right, Keiko unsheathed her zanpakuto which was kept across the small of her back like Soifon's. As she brought the weapon around in front of her, she raised her left arm into the air, her fist clenched.

"Waru ikimi.. Chiakki!"

As she yelled for her zanpakuto to release to it's shikai, she sliced it across the inside of her forearm, cutting a large gash and drawing blood. But rather than drip to the ground, the blood was drawn to the blade, as though it was absorbing the blood. For a moment, the blade shimmered red and white before quickly expanding in length and width. Moving her sword arm out to the right, Keiko held her zanpakuto out horizontally. The blade was now blood red in color, half a foot in width and six feet in length

Without a word, Kenpachi dashed forward, his speed fairly impressive for someone that was unable to use shunpo. After raising his zanpakuto off of his shoulder, he sliced it downwards, one-handed, aimed at her left shoulder. Keiko quickly brought Chiakki up and in front of her using only her sword arm to stop Kenpachi in his tracks with no visible effort on her part. For a few moments, the two Captains stood with their blades crossed, Kenpachi laughing as though he had lost his mind, Keiko grinning like an animal. It was nothing more than a simple swing and block, but each of them could feel and even smell the others raw, volatile power like an intoxicating scent.

The lust for blood was ignited within both Captains. Liquid ecstasy coursed through their veins. Every fiber of their being was ignited with pure, unfettered passion for battle.

It was only on the battlefield where they found meaning. It was only in the fight that knew true happiness. Their souls were free of their bindings, and everything around them disappeared except for the epitome of themselves: their energy.

For upwards of five hours, the two Captains let loose on each other, very often getting hits in or sending the other person flying into the ground to create a crater or two from the impact of his or her body. Keiko and Kenpachi stood staring at each other, their auras still crackling at full strength, though their bodies were bloodied and bruised and most of their clothing torn to shreds. But they were grinning.

With a yell on both ends, they ran for each other and when their zanpakutos met, an explosion detonated and rocks and dust went flying. Both Squads, now huddled as far away as possible to make sure they didn't get involved, stared intensely, wondering if, finally, the fight was over.

For five minutes, there was nothing but silence, and the dust finally cleared. Kenpachi and Keiko were crumpled at the bottom of a crater, their broken bodies shaking, gasping for breath between laughs.

"So," Keiko coughed, too tired to move. "I guess this is a draw," she smirked, trying to glance over at Kenpachi.

The larger man snorted. "You didn't use your bankai." But his voice wasn't laced with anger or spite, and there was a feral grin at his lips.

"Why would I use it if you can't?" she shrugged, and with a groan, slowly sat up to look down at him.

Coughing dust out of his lungs, Kenpachi sat up a bit, resting back on his elbows. "I want a rematch, and I want you to use your bankai."

Keiko shook her head. "No."

It was as though the grin on his lips was never there - it disappeared quickly. His eyes, having returned to their normally gray color, narrowed as he stared at her.

"But I'll make you a deal. Let me help you learn your zanpakuto's name, to learn how to unleash its bankai, and -then- you'll get your rematch."

The look on the woman's face was so smug, Kenpachi wanted to reach out and slap it away. But her words stabbed him, and they dug deep under his skin. Was she merely making fun of him for not knowing his zanpakuto's name, or was she being serious? Hereally didn't need to ask that question because he already knew the answer to it. "Think you can do it?" he muttered.

"I can't promise it'll happen, but I can promise that I'll try, and try with every ounce of my being." The smirk was gone, replaced with pure and utter sincerity.

Kenpachi reached out with a large hand, and Keiko gripped it firmly. The promise was sealed.

* * *

By the time Keiko had been dragged out of the crater, over to Squad Four to be patched up and scolded by Unohana-taichou, then finally returned to the 9th Squad house, it was close to midnight, and she had to lean against Hisagi-fukutaichou for support. The news of the battle and its outcome had quickly spread throughout all of Seireitei in a matter of hours, and nearly every person she passed gave her a pat on the back or a cheer. The same was said for her entire Squad. The moment she stepped into their house, the walls shook as they screamed and cheered. As she had hoped, and somewhat expected, morale was high.

Keiko laughed and thanked people as she and Hisagi-fukutaichou made their way towards the back, where her room was located. Once there, she flopped onto her bed, face first, with a groan.

"You may not be a bungling child anymore, but you're still a fool," Hisagi-fukutaichou commented, his arms crossing over his chest.

"Fool, but a fool who didn't lose!" she yelled into the blanket, raising her left arm, pointer finger pointed into the air. With a grunt, she rolled onto her back and sat up. "Told you I knew what I was doing."

Unannounced, a jigokuchou flew in from the window near the head of the bed. It came to a halt in front of Keiko and kept itself fluttering mid-air. "Tomorrow, Captain of the Ninth Squad, Akuuno Keiko, will have a meeting with Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou at 1300 hours," an unknown voice resonated from the butterfly. It repeated the message before disappearing back out of the window.

Keiko pouted as she watched the butterfly disappear.

With a snort, her lieutenant shook his head before turning towards the door. "That's what you get. Anyway, you better get some sleep. No training tomorrow I assume?" Despite his serious tone, he grinned at her.

"Nah," Keiko shook her head. "They can have one more day off." Hisagi-fukutaichou nodded and left. Apparently already forgetting about the butterfly, Keiko scooted back onto the bed and abruptly passed out from exhaustion.

* * *

Kenpachi's welcome back to the 11th Squad house would have been similar to Keiko's, but he was too cranky for anyone to even attempt to cheer him. It wasn't because he hadn't won, nor was it because Keiko had thrown in his face he didn't know his zanpakuto's name and claimed she could help him learn it, no, it almost had nothing to do with the fight. Kenpachi was cranky because the prissy healer had made sure he stayed put while she and ten of her men made sure he was completely healed and bandaged. To the dismay of the healers, that involved holding Kenpachi down while he yelled and cursed at them.

Walking straight through the 11th house, he waved his hand dismissively at anyone that tried to approach him and stormed right into his room, slamming the door shut behind him before he sat down on his bed. "Stupid bitch," he growled, reaching up and ripping off the bulk of the bandages which covered most of his body. Normally, he'd spend the rest of the night bitching and moaning about the prissy healer, but his attention was brought somewhere else: the fight with Keiko.

Kenpachi laughed to himself, lying back in bed as a grin spread across his lips; he was running the fight through his head over and over again. When was the last time he had been so excited? He wanted to say it was probably the one time Ichigo fought him, but it wasn't. Never had Kenpachi felt such exhilaration in his life. Never had he been so happy. And strangely enough, the adrenaline rush and excessive use of his power were making him tired. But before he let sleep claim him, as it so rarely did, he folded his arms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. While he had a growing respect for Keiko, and he continued to realize how alike he and she were, he still couldn't put his finger on what it was he felt in her aura that still made her so different from him.

Was it because she had control over her powers? No, that was something he could sense.

Was it that she could use her bankai, but actually chose -not- to, thus causing a draw? No, he could sense her putting a limit on some of her powers.

Why the hell did he care anyway? Since when did Zaraki Kenpachi ever -think- so much?

But no matter how much he mentally scolded himself for it, one question still remained in the back of his mind, and it was nearly impossible for him to silence it: did she really think she'd be able to help him learn his zanpakuto's name?

Turning his head to the side, Kenpachi stared at his zanpakuto, as though once more trying to communicate it. With a snort, he rolled over onto his stomach to get some sleep.

* * *

haori - hip or thigh-length kimono jacket which adds formality; the Captain's jacket

"Waru ikimi.. Chiakki!" - "Rend flesh... Blood-demon!" (Rough translation. I might be completely -wrong-..)

shunpo - a movement technique that allows the user to move faster than the eye can follow; "flash step"

jigokuchou - "Hell Butterfly"

**Chiakki**

I regret to say that I was a -little- inspired by Sephiroth's Masamune (FFVII). I wanted Keiko's zanpakuto to be large (as Ichigo's and Kenpachi's are to reflect the size and intensity of their spiritual powers) but not -too- much like Ichigo's or Kenpachi's shikai. I thought of making it huge, like Guts' Dragon Slayer (Berserk - brownie points if you know this manga/anime!), but at the same time, I wanted the blade to be somewhat thin to reflect Keiko having -some- control over it. As the story progresses, more information will be revealed about her zanpakuto, but for now, I'd rather not spoil anything.

**Hisagi Shuuhei**

I've always had a problem figuring which was his family name and which his given, and because of that, I often mix them up. It only dawned on me while writing -this- chapter, that I screwed up his name (writing Shuuhei-fukutaichou when it should have been Hisagi-fukutaichou.) I tried to fix it as quickly as possible, so hopefully no one spotted the mistakes.

The next chapter will probably focus mostly on Keiko. Let me say this now: this is -not- meant to be a Kenpachi x OC fic, nor will it turn into one. I, like many BLEACH and Kenpachi fans, always wondered what Kenpachi's bankai would look like (lololol gattling gun). Since it was stressed that Kenpachi would probably never learn it, as he and his zanpakuto only hurt each other, I thought it would be interesting to write about what lengths Kenpachi would go to -to- learn his zanpakuto's name. At first, I thought of using one of the other Captains, or lieutenants who can already use their bankai, as a means of helping Kenpachi, but the more I thought about it, the less it made sense.

1) People would be too -scared- to offer to help Kenpachi.

2) People wouldn't -care- if he learned his bankai or not (it doesn't affect them, so why get into the middle of it.)

3) It isn't mentioned (at least from what I've seen) that Kenpachi even -wants- to learn his zanpakuto's name, so even if 1 or 2 didn't apply, no one knows whether or not he cares.

4) Can you picture Kenpachi asking someone for help? I mean, seriously.

Taking all that into consideration, I screwed around with a BLEACH chara I used to RP (Keiko, duh) and changed her so that in a way, 1 through 4 don't affect her: she's not afraid of Kenpachi, and she cares because she -wants- a rematch with him, bankai vs. bankai. So, throughout the fic, Keiko acts as a catalyst to cause Kenpachi to change, and, honestly, the only way I can do that is if I go into depth with her character. If that bothers you, the reader, well, I'm sorry, but /shrug.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos._


	5. Chapter 5

To Orc ( since I cannot reply to people not logged in ;-; ) - "Without a second thought, his laugh having turned to a maniacal cackle, Kenpachi reached up and tore the eye patch off his eye..." So, the answer is, yes, he did get rid of his eye patch.

--

Due to exhaustion, Keiko slept most of the day, and didn't wake up until close to noon. After changing, showering, and fixing her bandages, she made her way towards the area the Captains generally held their meetings. She was stopped a few times by various Shinigami she didn't recognize, many of them shaking her hand, many congratulating her, and by the time she actually reached her destination, it was ten to one. Stepping into the room, her eyes fell upon a fellow Captain. A warm smile greeting her lips, Keiko moved over to her mentor and shook her hand. "What are you doing here, Soifon-taichou? Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou said he wanted to talk to me."

The Second Squad Captain opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off when Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou himself appeared from the back. "So I did," the old man spoke quietly. Followed closely by his lieutenant, he made his way towards the other Captains and sat down in his chair. Both women bowed to him respectfully. "I wanted to talk to you about your fight with Kenpachi."

Keiko winced. Would she be scolded? Was now the time she would have to explain to him -why- she did what she did? "Yes?" her voice was quiet as she moved closer and kneeled before him.

"No, you aren't in trouble," he shook his head. "I know what kind of man Kenpachi is, just as I know what type of woman you are. I had expected something similar to occur eventually. I'm just glad the two of you had the common sense to make sure it was in an area where there would be no casualties or need for repair." Keiko inwardly sighed in relief. "I just want to make sure the fight didn't do anything to your seals," he continued.

Looking up at him, her eyes widening, almost instantly watering, Keiko shook her head. "They didn't. I didn't even use my bankai against Zaraki-taichou."

"All the more reason to check them. Exerting as much power as you did to fight Kenpachi without even bothering to release your bankai could cause a strain on them. Even if the fight didn't do anything, it would still be wise to re-do them. You know what could happen if they broke." Although his eyes were hidden beneath his eyebrows and thin lids, he was looking down at her.

Keiko bit her lip, turning her head down to stare at the floor. He was right, she knew that. There would be no arguing the case. Truth be told, she should have known this was coming if Soifon-oneesan was here as well.

Sighing softly, and resisting the urge to cry, the newest Captain stood up and removed her Captain's jacket, letting it fall to the floor. Beneath the haori, rather than the traditional white shitagi and black kosode that Captains wore, Keiko wore a sleeveless and backless shihakushou, the same form as Soifon-soushireikan's Onmitsukido uniform. Covering the entirety of her back and shoulders were large, complicated tribal designs, red tattoos curled in fascinating waves and patterns.

Closing her eyes, Keiko turned around so that her back was facing Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou before kneeling back down and tightly crossing her arms over her chest causing her back to arch as much as possible. Soifon-oneesan knelt before her, a small bit of cloth tightly curled into a long cylinder shape in her hand. Keiko nodded and opened her mouth, Soifon-oneesan slipped it in. When the 9th Captain bit down on it, the Second Squad Captain knelt before her and grasped the younger woman's upper arms.

Sasakibe-fukutaichou, Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou's lieutenant, held out a long scroll, offering it to the Commander General who in turn took it. Standing up, he began to read from it, a language unknown to any in the room except him. Almost immediately, Keiko grunted in pain. The seals on her back began to glimmer a deep crimson, and as Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou read on, the glimmer grew into a glow. As seconds passed, Keiko's eyes dripped tears and her fingers gripped her upper arms so tightly that her nails began to draw blood. Her eyes shut tightly as the pain at her back grew, and if it hadn't been for Soifon-oneesan holding her up, she could have toppled over from the pain.

As the Commander General's voice grew louder, the seals glowed brighter. Eventually flames burst from the tattoos, crimson in color, and Keiko screamed in agony, the sounds not even remotely muffled by the cloth in her mouth. Quickly letting go of her arms, she slammed her hands into the ground, her entire body beginning to shake. The flames grew, eventually darkening until black, but strangely enough, her skin did not burn. She was, however, in unimaginable pain. It blinded her, dominated her mind, made her sob and shake.

The entire process took close to half an hour, and when Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou was done reading, Keiko let her muscles relax, and she fell forward into Soifon-oneesan's lap, tears still falling from her eyes as she passed out.

* * *

For hours, Keiko remained unconscious, her mind too exhausted to offer her sweet dreams, and it was close to six by the time she started to wake. Groaning softly, she slowly opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw a black wall across from her.

"Waking up?" Soifon-oneesan's voice rang out softly.

With a grunt, Keiko nodded, closing her eyes for a few more moments as the rest of her body woke up. "How long have I been out?" she muttered, testing her muscles by flexing them gently. She realized she was lying on the floor, on her right side, a folded blanket beneath her body. Gentle hands reached out and helped her sit up.

"A few hours," the Second Squad Captain replied, now kneeling behind Keiko to support her.

Silence cloaked the room for a few more minutes, and when Keiko was fully awake, she opened her eyes again and sighed. "Stupid," she muttered, shifting until she was on her knees, and with Soifon-oneesan's help, she stood up. "I didn't even think about the seals when Kenpachi approached me."

"It was time to redo them either way," the older woman replied, her hands pressed into Keiko's lower back for support. "Although I agree - it was stupid to let him goad you into a fight."

Keiko snorted. It was -not- time to redo them. She, as well as Soifon-oneesan knew that. The Second Squad Captain also probably realized, as Keiko did, that the Commander General probably used the painful process to try and steer her away from fighting Kenpachi again. But there was no need to go into it. The fight had been worth the pain those few hours ago.

"He didn't goad me. It was... a mutual agreement." She turned around to face her mentor, reaching up to pull her short black hair out of its ponytail. "Who else would have been able to stand up to me like that? No one. I know it's hard for you or any one else to understand, but when your power out measures everyone elses and fights are nothing but a joke? It's exhilarating." With a shrug, she pulled her hair back tightly and rebound it. "I mean, yeah, I would have beaten him down along with anyone else that came at me if the seals broke, but it's nice to be on par with someone every so often."

Soifon-oneesan sighed and shook her head. "I know, you've explained it before. Just be careful, alright? Do you want Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou to have to redo the seals every day?" Keiko cringed. "I didn't think so."

Slowly bending down, Keiko grabbed her Captain's jacket and carefully put it on. Immediately, her eyes began to water; the fabric was rough on her still sensitive skin. Biting back a cry, she stood still for a few moments, her hands tightening into fists and relaxing a few times as she did her best to will her mind to forget the pain. Once it was bearable, she turned back to her mentor. "Well, I'm going back to my Squad. But, honestly… Thank you." For a moment, sadness crossed the younger woman's eyes as she looked towards Soifon-oneesan.

"Don't mention it," she replied, with a shake of her head. "Just be careful."

With a nod, Keiko turned to exit the room, but stopped when Soifon-oneesan spoke up: "I told you so."

The moment she stepped outside, Keiko inhaled deeply, her lungs quickly filling with fresh air, and any other miasma clouds in her mind disappeared. Aside from a dull throbbing at her back and shoulders, she felt almost normal again, and, arranging a smile on her lips, she turned the corner to return to the place she called home. Before she could get very far, a roadblock stopped her. Craning her head back all the way, she raised an eyebrow and stared up at Kenpachi. "What are you doing here?" Immediately, she became defensive; had he been sneaking around while her seals were being redone?

Kenpachi snorted, looking down at the much smaller woman. "Someone's got their panties in a twist."

Rolling her eyes, Keiko side-stepped the big man and started walking towards her Squad again. With a nod of her head, she motioned for him to follow. "What do you want?"

Apparently having nothing better to do, he followed. "Just tryin' ta' find where you were hiding. And ta' make sure you weren't gonna' try and lie yer way outta' that promise you made."

Was he actually looking forward to it? Honestly, she wasn't surprised. She had felt the tiniest twinge of sadness in his aura when she had spoken about bankai. But she didn't expect him to be so... so... excited? Impatient? With a chuckle, she nodded. "I'll keep that promise. But not tonight. Probably not for a few days, honestly."

"Ohh? Chickenin' out on me are ya'?" he grinned again, reaching out and clapping a hand over her shoulder.

Eyes wide, vision blurred, Keiko bit back a scream as pain coursed through her entire body; his hand had caused the fabric of her haori to brutally rub against her sensitive skin. Grunting loudly, she stopped where she was, fighting hard to keep herself standing, her knees threatening to buckle under her. After a moment she smiled weakly up at him. "I'm not," she murmured, stepping away from his hand. "I'm just… beat up more than I thought I was from yesterday."

It was a full out lie.

Kenpachi stared down at her. "Yer a terrible liar."

And he caught it.

Keiko chuckled quietly, pulling a bit more strength together before she started walking again. "Might be. But I promise that I'll keep the promise. You can at least tell I'm -not- lying about that one, right?" She looked up at him, making certain her aura was giving off waves of honesty.

He shrugged, still following her. "I think yer insane for thinking you can do the impossible, but," he shrugged again, not having much else to say.

"Just give me a few days to recover, then-"

"Recover from what?" he cut her off. "You took the same beating I did, and yet yer walkin' around and talkin' without a problem. Yer not dead, so what gives?"

Keiko stopped again and stared up at him. For a brief moment, shadows passed her eyes and the air around her grew cold. Part of her wanted to spit in his face, to growl some venomous comment about his zanpakuto, but that wasn't her. Blinking a few times, she shook her head. "Everyone has their secrets." Not waiting for a response, not waiting for him to follow, she abruptly turned and disappeared toward her Squad house.

* * *

Yes, Kenpachi was impatient. And -that- was why he sought out Keiko as soon as he could. The only train of thought that had been running through his mind was: learn bankai, get stronger, have rematch. It was all he really needed to know.

There were, of course, other motives as to why he was so impatient. Despite popular belief, it bothered Kenpachi that he didn't know his zanpakuto's name. It wasn't because he "wasn't like everyone else", it was because a part of him always felt... missing. Usually he drowned the thoughts and, ick, -feelings-, away through sake or fighting, and usually it kept him preoccupied enough. But when Keiko claimed she would try and help him, the smallest, tiniest, most microscopic tingle of hope had entered his mind. Of course, on the outside, should anyone find out what he was going to do, he would simply explain it off as just getting stronger, to reaffirm the name he had given himself: Kenpachi. But, pfft, who was he kidding? Did anyone have the -balls- to ask him?

After Keiko had disappeared, he returned to his own Squad, and after fishing out a bottle of sake out from under his bed, plopped down on the floor with the rest of his Squad and commenced drinking.

She had lied. It bothered him.

In a way, he supposed that it felt like a disappointment. Both he and she had exhausted themselves yesterday. Both of them had, probably, about the same extent of injuries. Both of them were able to walk away from the fight with little help from their lieutenants. And yet, there she was, claiming that he had hurt her more than she hurt him. It didn't make sense, and, obviously, he had pointed out the lie and shoved it in her face. There was something else she wasn't saying, and it pissed him off. Through their fight, they had bared their -souls- to one another, had shown each other what their raw power could do. And then there she was, keeping secrets. It annoyed him.

Well, there were only two things to do: drink, and then bother Keiko enough so that she would eventually tell the fucking truth.

* * *

shitagi - short sleeved undergarment

kosode - the "shirt" part of the Shinigami uniform; sometimes referred to as kimono

**Showers**

Yes, Keiko takes a lot of showers, and I often mention this for reasons that will later be revealed. (Bwahaha.. /forces you to read)

**Keiko not in trouble?** (For KonranKoneko)

You might be thinking - why is Keiko not in trouble for starting an necessary fight with Kenpachi? Wouldn't Yama be angry at them for it? Truth be told, even if something like this were to happen in canon, and it involved Kenpachi, I don't think anyone would be in trouble for breaking any rules. Everyone knows what kind of person Kenpachi is, Yamamoto included. Eventually, the old man would -have- to see something like a completely unnecessary fight would happen -sometime- in the future. And if he does know that, and if it bothered him, he more than likely would have found some way to get Kenpachi out of his position as Captain. At least, I'm pretty sure that's what would happen. /shrug So, since Kenpachi's still a Captain, there probably aren't any problems.

Although, as a way to dissuade Keiko from fighting Kenpachi again, Yama had her seals redone. Considering they weren't in need of being redone, Keiko realizes this, but, of course, it won't stop her from having a rematch.

**Zaraki-taichou / Kenpachi  
**

Keiko uses it in this chapter while speaking to Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou as respect for the Commander General.

Yama refers to Kenpachi by his given name rather than his title (Zaraki-taichou). Why? Well, I think Yama, in general, would be annoyed, upset, angry, etc with Kenpachi because of the man's disregard for rules as well as his personality. Take for example his fight with Ichigo. Kenpachi didn't have to destroy half the buildings he did, but, he did it anyway because he's Kenpachi. I'm pretty certain little shit like that would piss Yama off. Besides, Kenpachi doesn't exactly seem to care if people use his title or not, unlike Toushirou, lawl.

**Seals**

That's what they are. What exactly they seal up probably won't be revealed for quite a while.

**"Bearing of Souls"**

Yeah, generally it means telling a person everything about yourself, blah, blah, blah, "Oh, I love you! Here's some shitty info about me!" Buuut, this isn't the case. Keiko and Kenpachi are warriors. It's who and what they are, no questions about that. Neither of them, in the past, had been able to completely push everything they had into a fight (with, maybe, the exception of Kenpachi's fight with Nnoitra, but this fic -is- AU, so.) And so, finally being able to do that, they showed each other what they really were, their real -essence-. Only reason I explain this is because I don't want people thinking I'm making Kenpachi -too- human.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos._


	6. Chapter 6

It was already her fourth day of being Captain, and after the adventures of the past three days, Keiko figured it was time to get serious. Early in the morning, after once again showering and changing, she made her entire Squad get up and assemble outside. A few grumbled about it being way too early, but the bulk of them didn't whine or bitch. For a few hours, she went over the exercises she would want them to memorize as it would become their daily routine. Once she was certain they all understood what they were doing and were doing it properly, she dismissed them a bit before noon.

Rather than head into the main area of the Squad house and have lunch with her Squad, Keiko turned and entered her office, a large room with a desk, couch, books, and all other office-y supplies. Sitting down at her desk, she grabbed a fresh stack of papers and began working on them. Truth be told, Hisagi-fukutaichou had done an amazing job when he filled in for Captain. With the exception of the previous four days of paper work, there was absolutely nothing left half-assed, and for a moment, Keiko wondered if she should get him some soft of gift for the work. Sake, probably. What man didn't like sake? Nodding to herself and making a mental note, Keiko bent down over the papers before her and started to read, every so often filling something in with a pen.

Just as she was about to finish the last bit of paperwork, a soft knock sounded at the door. "Yes?" she called out, her golden eyes never leaving the paper. Hisagi-fukutaichou slipped in. "What's up?" she looked up at him, checking off one more item before putting the paper down.

"You have a visitor," he replied, glancing over his shoulder.

Raising an eyebrow, Keiko stood up, her hands slipping into opposite sleeves. "You act like you've seen a ghost. What's wrong?"

Hisagi-fukutaichou shuddered once before looking back at his Captain. "It's Zaraki-taichou."

For a few moments, Keiko just stared at her lieutenant. She knew he wasn't afraid of Kenpachi, but rather, he was afraid that Kenpachi was -here- at -their- Squad. It seemed pretty out of character for the big man.

"BAH!" she threw her hands into the air in exasperation. Was that man truly that impatient? Muttering a few obscenities under her breath, she made her way out from behind her desk and towards Hisagi-fukutaichou. "I'll take care of him. Go back to whatever it was you were doing."

Hisagi-fukutaichou nodded once and turned to push the sliding door back open, but it was ripped out of his hand as someone from the other side quickly opened it. He fell back a few steps from the force of the door and stared up at Kenpachi.

Keiko sighed before slipping her hands back into her sleeves. "You might as well come in then," she shook her head at Kenpachi before turning around and heading back towards her desk. Once Kenpachi stepped into the office, Hisagi-fukutaichou made his way around the larger man and exited, sliding the door shut behind him. "I said I probably wouldn't be able to do it today," the 9th Captain spoke up once they were alone, turning around to face her fellow Captain, leaning back against her desk.

"Blame a guy fer being impatient," he replied, flopping down onto the couch. "The quicker you get better, the quicker you can try and teach me whatever the hell it is you need ta' teach me, the quicker our rematch," he grinned up at her, now being the shorter of the two from his position on the couch.

Keiko stared at Kenpachi before shrugging and hopping backwards to sit on the top of her desk. "Why have you never tried it before?"

He shrugged, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back on the arm of the couch. "Think I know what the fuck yer supposed ta' do ta' get a bankai?" he snorted. "Besides, it's not like anyone has the balls ta' actually approach me about it." At that, he grinned, apparently quite content with his intimidation factor.

The black-haired woman studied Kenpachi for a few more moments. From all the stories she had heard from her fellow Shinigami, as well as from her previous fight with him, she was beginning to realize that he had just spilled some sort of secret to her. Who the hell -would- try to ask him why he didn't have a bankai? No one, probably, and she could safely assume it was a sore subject.

"My turn fer questions. What the hell were you doing at the old man's place for so long? Pretty sure I heard someone screaming like a little bitch after you went in. Was it you?" he grinned at her.

"What, are you following me now or something?" she spat at him, her eyes narrowing dangerously. A sneer pulled at her lips and she growled at him – he found the way to piss her off. Closing her eyes, she shook her head and sighed. If she was going to do the impossible, he was going to have to trust her, and vice-versa. "Yeah, it was me," she started, slipping off her desk and loosening her Captain's jacket so that it bared her back and arms. "These," she spoke quietly, turning so her back faced him, "are seals. Know anything about them?"

Blinking and raising an eyebrow, Kenpachi sat up on the couch and stared at her back. He felt dizzy just looking at the complicated patterns. "No. What the fuck are they?"

Keiko slipped her Captain's jacket back up her arms. "Think of them like your eye patch. They bind quite a bit of my powers," she turned back to face him, once more folding her arms. "The whole thing's a lot more complicated, but let's just say, if I didn't have these tattoos, I'd be nothing more than a rabid animal."

He stared at her. What could possibly be going through his mind was beyond her.

"And to answer your question, I was at Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou's getting the seals redone. They have to be redone every so often to make sure they're functioning properly. The process hurts more than you could fathom." He continued to stare. "And if you don't believe me, you can come and watch the next time I have them redone."

"Yer one crazy bitch," he finally replied, flopping back down on the couch and closing his eye.

Keiko couldn't help but laugh, finding his remark comical rather than offensive. "Why do you say that?"

"If you had used yer bankai, you probably would have wrecked me in our fight. But now I find out half yer powers are bound?" He shuddered. "Makes me want a rematch even more now." Sitting up again, he laughed. "You're one of the few people I've come to respect."

She could push the subject, explain exactly what it was that the seals kept locked up, but she didn't want to get into it. If things went as planned, the seals would never be broken, and no one would ever have to know about their real role. "Kind words from Zaraki Kenpachi. Be still my heart," she chuckled, placing a hand over her heart.

"You should feel honored," the big man grinned, getting up from the couch. "Now, about that promise."

Keiko rolled her eyes. "You don't give up, do you?"

"Fuck no. If I want something, I'll get it, and as quickly as possible." Grin.

A groan passed Keiko's lips. "Fine, fine. Later tonight, then. Unless you -want- to do this in the middle of the day where everyone can watch?"

Kenpachi paused, eye squinting in thought. "Didn' think a'that. Fine. Tonight then, back at the execution grounds."

"Deal, now get out!" she shooed him towards the door. "People are going to start thinking I'm your slut or something if you keep hanging around here!"

Pausing right before the door, he stared down at her, a glint coming to his eye as he licked his lips.

"OUT!" she yelled, opening the door and physically kicking him out as he cackled manically. With a snort, she slammed the door shut and returned to her desk.

* * *

When midnight rolled around and the bulk of Seireitei was asleep or drinking with friends, Keiko left the 9th Squad to make her way towards the execution grounds. Oddly enough, she wasn't surprised that Kenpachi was already there. Either he was very punctual, or very impatient. She was almost certain it was the latter. "I'm not even going to ask if you're ready," Keiko chuckled, stopping before him. She opened her right palm and quickly chanted a short kidou to summon a small ball of light to her hand. She tossed it into the air and it hung a few feet above them to give them some light.

From his seat on a large boulder, Kenpachi looked up at her with a toothy grin. "Took you long enough ta' get out here."

"I don't even want to know how long you've been waiting," she waved her hand dismissively. Sighing softly, she slipped her hands into the opposite sleeves of her haori and looked down at Kenpachi, trying to think of where exactly to begin. "I hope you realize, a lot of this will consist of doing things other than fighting. I don't want to waste my time if you're going to get fed up after a day or two of nothing happening."

The grin remained. "If yer willin' ta' teach, I'm willin' ta' sit an' listen."

"Good," she replied, now taking a seat on a free boulder. It was half the size of the one Kenpachi sat on, and that, coupled with her short height, made her seem almost minuscule. Reaching for the right side of her back, she unsheathed her zanpakuto and motioned for him to do the same. "You know, as well as anyone else, that a Shinigami needs to know its zanpakuto's name to release its shikai and bankai forms, although, there are odd instances when the zanpakuto constantly remains in its shikai form. Yours, obviously, and the substitute Shinigami's. I don't know why, honestly, so don't ask… Some theorize it's because of your raw power. I guess that could be it, I don't know. Then again, I don't think you even care."

Kenpachi snorted.

"Yeah. Anyway. Obviously, your zanpakuto has a name, otherwise it wouldn't even be able to take a shikai form. Now… Close your eyes." She did it, and because of how impatient he had been over the whole thing, she didn't bother to check to see if he did it. She was certain he would. "Picture your zanpakuto. Not just a rough sketch of it. Visualize it exactly as it is. The hilt, the pommel, the blade with all its ragged edges. If you can't do that, then let your hands be your eyes. Touch every piece of it, then imagine it in your mind's eye. It might take a while, but there's no rush."

After a few moments, Keiko opened her eyes and looked up at Kenpachi. The look on his face appeared to be a cross of concentration and annoyance. His hands were tightly grasping at each piece of his zanpakuto, and more than once he cut his fingers. She knew he wasn't hurting himself, but he was going to have to learn to -not- be so rough. Sheathing her own blade, she slipped off the boulder and made her way over to Kenpachi. "It may not be a word in your dictionary, but try to be gentle," she spoke softly, reaching out and moving her hands over his. "You've used this blade for years; it's become a part of you. Soften your grip." She slipped her fingers under his and tried to loosen them. "It might take a while, but the more you hold it and try to imagine it in your mind, the easier it'll be to picture it with the lightest of touches."

For a few more hours, Keiko did her best to help Kenpachi visualize his zanpakuto. As she personally expected, they didn't make much progress, but some was better than none. He claimed he could see the pommel and hilt, but the jagged edges of his blade were proving to be a problem.

Reaching down, Keiko ripped a strip of her Captain's jacket off the bottom, then ripped it in half and wrapped one piece around each of his bleeding hands. "Maybe I'm going to have to teach you how to be gentle first," she grinned up at him, tightly tying off the bandage at his right hand.

"Hmph," was his only response.

With a smirk, she crossed her arms. "So, come back here tomorrow, or are you already giving up?"

Kenpachi snorted. "You made a promise, woman. I'll be back."

"Good. Try doing the same thing we did here whenever you get time to yourself. The more you try to do it, the easier it'll get. For now, though, I need sleep." As if on cue, a loud and long yawn left her mouth. She shivered once, waved and left for her squad.

* * *

Kidou - ball of light

Name the book series I stole that from and win uber brownie points!

"If things went as planned, the seals would never be broken, and no one would ever have to know about their real role."

LOLOLOL FORESHADOWING! Sorry. Too much coffee..

And so, Kenpachi begins to learn, or try to learn, his zanpakuto's name. Yes, as it's been stated, a Shinigami either takes decades to figure out his bankai, or goes through some quick, dangerous process. Since I didn't want to use the same process Ichigo used to learn his, and Kenpachi first needs to learn his zanpakuto's name, and then his bankai (which will come easy because of his abundance of power), I figured I might as well have a different process of going about doing it to make things a bit interesting.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos._


	7. Chapter 7

To Magnapede ( since I cannot reply to people not logged in ;-; ) - In a way, yes, it most certainly is, and I realize it makes her seem very PC (PowerChara for those who used to / do text based RP), but realize this: I'm basing Keiko's and Kenpahi's relationship off their fighting abilities and their fight. Sure, I could tone down Keiko's power, thus she would have had to use her bankai in their fight, and things would still go as they are (fight, offer to train bankai, accept, Kenpachi gets his bankai) but then what? Kenpachi would so grossly out power her, that he'd (as I view it) see no -reason- to have a rematch with her. At that point, he'd be forced to tone down on -his- powers. And if that were the case, he wouldn't have fun, would he?

Also realize, as I tried to express in the first chapter, that Keiko has (in this AU, obviously) been around for a very long time. It sucks there's no specific time line given as to when what Captain joined the Gotei 13, when which lieutenant began their training at the Shinigami academy, etc, (or, maybe there is, manga-wise, and I don't know about it) because then I could expand on that a bit more. She is a new Captain, that much is obvious, but she -has- been around as a part of the Onmitsukido for a much longer time period.

--

Weeks passed in Seireitei, and every day had a similar rhythm to the previous day. There were no unusual problems within Soul Society, nor were there any on earth, so, aside from normal everyday precautions, things remained normal. Every day, with the exception of Saturday, which Keiko dubbed as their "day off", she would practice with her squad from six in the morning to noon, have her lunch, do her paper work, then do whatever it was that she felt like until midnight rolled around, with various meetings shoved into the cycle. Progress with Kenpachi was slower than she thought humanly possible, but it was still progress none-the-less.

It took him a good three weeks to finally get the visualization technique done, and after that their sessions became grueling. She would have him sit, in silence, picturing his zanpakuto in his mind and try to communicate with it. Often he would ask her "how the fuck" was he supposed to do that, but she wouldn't answer him; she'd only tell him to shut up and keep trying. She was pretty certain that if getting a bankai did not, in turn, mean challenging her to a rematch with no holds barred, he would have tried to kill her. Eventually, after hours of silence and not doing anything physical, he would start to get fidgety and bitch. Promptly, she'd wind up smacking him and tell him to focus, and although he growled and threatened her, he did as she said and went back to the job before him.

Sitting on the boulder which had become hers, Keiko leaned back on her hands, palms pressed into the rock's surface, and looked up at Kenpachi. "It's one thing to actually communicate with your zanpakuto and then it'll refuse to tell you its name, but it's another thing entirely to not even be able to get that far," she commented, biting on her bottom lip.

Kenpachi just stared at her with one of his "no shit" looks. She had gotten used to it and ignored it.

With a sigh, she sat up and folded her arms in her lap, slouching forward. "I have another idea that might help, but you may not like it."

"If I get ta' do somethin' aside from sittin' here trying ta' do somethin' I have no idea how ta' do, fine."

"You may be, but I'm not so sure I am," she sighed before slipping off the rock and standing up. "Not going in to details, because truthfully, I don't know how to explain it, but, the gist of it is that I knock you out, enter your mind, on a spiritual level, mind you, and try to help you figure out why the fuck you can't communicate with your zanpakuto."

He grinned lecherously at her. "Dunno'. Might have a few things in there I dun want you seein'."

Keiko rolled her eyes. "Spare me. But, it's the truth. Your mind will be an open book to me. If I fuck up, I might put you in a coma."

"You serious?" he stared at her.

She shrugged. "I've never done it before, won't lie. But I understand the basics, and it's simple enough to do."

For a few moments, Kenpachi was silent as he contemplated his choices. "And what happens ta' you if you screw up?"

He was more intelligent than Keiko gave him credit for you. But, there was no point in lying. "I could die."

There was absolutely no fear in her voice. She didn't pause before answering him. She really would keep her promise, no matter the cost. "You really are a crazy bitch," he chortled.

"Now, are we going to do this, or is the great Zaraki Kenpachi going to chicken out," Keiko grinned at him, rolling her sleeves up.

With a snort, Kenpachi stood up. "What do I do?"

"Sit," she replied, pointing down at the ground. When he did, she sat next to him, but facing the other direction. "Hold onto your zanpakuto tightly and get ready to feel nauseous," she grinned at him, reaching up with the hand closest to him and pressing her pointer finger to his forehead. "Close your eyes and relax." She followed her own order and did just that. Sighing softly, she mentally chanted a few words and focused on her spirit energy. It took a few moments, but after a bit, a link formed between them, and Keiko felt as though she were falling, her stomach flipping upside down.

Hundreds of images flashed before her mind's eye: blood, screaming, dying, wars, famine. She felt despair, loneliness, emptiness. But before she could go any further, Keiko severed the link and fell forward, throwing her hands out to stop her from falling face first into the ground before she violently threw up. For a good minute, she emptied her stomach, and when there was nothing left to throw up, she dry heaved, a thin coating of sweat covering her face. The sound of cloth being ripped caught her ears, and when she looked up, Kenpachi offered her a ripped piece of his Captain's jacket. She took it and wiped her mouth off while leaning back onto her haunches.

"Creepy, inn'it?" he smirked wryly at her.

Groaning quietly, she tossed the now dirty piece of cloth to the side before flopping back onto the ground, dust flying upwards as her back hit the dirt. A shudder ran through her body as she tried to recall a few of the images. Clothing that some of the people had worn in his mind was unfamiliar to her, and if she was right, she had just seen flashes of memory not only from his life as a Shinigami but of his past lives.

"Back to the old way, then?"

She didn't even look up; she only shook her head. "No. Gimmie a sec to calm down, then I'll try it again." Keiko was a stubborn woman. Once her heart beat returned to normal, she sat back up, tightened her ponytail before pressing her finger against Kenpachi's forehead again. But after a few minutes, the same exact thing happened. With nothing left in her stomach, she could only cough and sputter as her muscles spasmed.

When she was finally too tired to try it again, she called their session for the night. "Same time tomorrow," she started, sitting up again after having been lying back against the ground. She brushed her jacket off. "I think once I get used to the initial shock of it all, it'll be easier, and we'll be able to make a lot of progress." Turning her head to look at him for some response, she found him just staring at her. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "What? Something on my face?"

Kenpachi shook his head and stood up without a word. He was confused. "Why are you doin' this?"

"Because I promised I would," Keiko replied, slowly standing up.

"And you intend ta' keep the promise despite the fact yer obviously hurtin' yerself in the process?"

"Yes." She brushed her hakama off before looking up at him. A grin came to her lips. "Like you said, I'm a crazy bitch. If I want something done, I'll get it done. You're not the only one looking forward to our rematch." Finding her reasoning sufficient, she turned to leave the execution grounds, but after a few steps, her knees gave way and she fell forwards. Rather than letting her land on her face, Kenpachi grabbed her elbow and pulled her back into a standing position. "Oog, thanks," she murmured, her vision beginning to blur and distort. "Guess I overdid it a bit. Hm, may have to wait an extra day before I try this agaaaaaaa-" With that, her entire body gave and her mind blacked out; she passed out.

Stepping behind her, Kenpachi used his body to stop her from falling over sprawled in the dirt. Rolling his eye, he sighed and picked her up, moving her until her body was bent over his shoulder, her cheek pressing against his upper back, his arm hooked behind her knees to keep her from falling off. "Women," he muttered before moving towards the 9th Squad.

* * *

Thankfully, the next day was Saturday, and Keiko didn't have to get up early for any reasons. And by the time she -did- get up, it was close to one in the afternoon. Groaning softly, she sat up in bed and glanced at the clock, noting the time. "I feel like I just got over a hang over," she mumbled to herself, reaching up and scratching her head. Memories of last night were beginning to come to mind, and suddenly she wondered how the hell she had gotten back to her room. "What a nice guy," she snorted, laughing quietly when she realized Kenpachi must have carried her back. She slipped out of bed and immediately her nose scrunched up – her sheets were covered in dust and dirt and she was still wearing her full uniform. Not even bothering with her bed for now, she bee-lined for the bathroom to shower and change.

Leaving the bathroom, Keiko rubbed a towel against her head to dry her hair off, but rather than bind it up right away, she let the short black locks stay down to dry. After tossing the towel onto her bed, she reached for the sliding door, but before she could even exit her room, Yachiru-fukutaichou bounded out of no where and flew right at Keiko's chest, promptly clasping and holding onto the front of the woman's haori as the Captain fell back onto the floor with a very audible thump.

"Kokoa-chan!" Yachiru giggled, moving to sit on the woman's chest.

'Cocoa…?' Keiko thought as she opened her eyes to stare at the pink-haired girl sitting on her. "Hello, Yachiru-fukutaichou. To what do I owe this surprise visit?"

The young lieutenant promptly thrust a letter in Keiko's face. "Ken-chan said you said you'd spend the day with me!" she grinned widely.

"He wha…?" Brow furrowed, Keiko sat up, Yachiru falling into her lap in the process, and took the letter. She quickly opened it and the first thing she noticed was that the entire letter was written in hiragana; not the slightest bit of kanji was used. Snorting at the childishness, she read:

"I know, I'm just a nice guy for carrying you back to your room and not taking advantage of you. As thanks and payment, you can take care of Yachiru for a day."

Flames nearly shot out of Keiko's ears as her hand tightly curled around the latter, crumpling it up into a tiny ball. "I'll kill him…" she growled darkly.

"Kokoa-chan! Can we go into town? I haven't had lunch yet, and I wanna' go shopping!" Yachiru-fukutaichou looked up at the Captain with her big bright eyes.

How Keiko was supposed to say no, she didn't know. The girl was just too cute. Mentally reminding herself to kick the shit out of Kenpachi for this, she sighed and nodded, a smile coming to her lips. "Alright. Let me grab a few things and then we can go." Once grabbing some money, Keiko let Yachiru-fukutaichou grab her hand and lead her out of the 9th Squad, the Captain glaring at any of her subordinates that even -tried- to ask her what was going on.

After lunch, Keiko let Yachiru-fukutaichou have her way and drag the Captain all around Seireitei and the areas of Rukongai closest to it to do some "shopping" as the lieutenant put it, which really consisted of finding the yummiest foods and stickiest candies. When Yachiru-fukutaichou finally declared she was getting tired, Keiko picked her up and let her ride piggy-back all the way back to the 11th Squad. Once there, many of the members nodded to her in respect, a few waved. When she asked where Kenpachi was, one member, the Third Seat whose name Keiko couldn't remember, pointed to his office. Highly doubting he was doing paper work, Keiko barged right in, fairly noisily, and stared down at Kenpachi who had just woken up from a nap on the couch.

She was about to open her mouth and say something, but Yachiru-fukutaichou did the talking for her. "Ken-chan!" she squealed, hopping off Keiko's back and onto Kenpachi's stomach. "Kokoa-chan let me have lots of yummy food and even bought me candy!" As if for effect, the young lieutenant held out her hands, holding all of her booty – different types of sugar-coated goodness. Giggling like the child she was, Yachiru-fukutaichou hopped off Kenpachi's stomach and made her way out of his office, mentioning something about Baldy's head needing to be drawn on.

Keiko slid the door to his office shut before crossing her arms over her chest and making her way over to his couch to glare down at him. "You wanna' warn me next time you pull some shit like that?"

"What?" Kenpachi smirked up at her, sitting up on the couch.

"Oh, don't give me that crap," Keiko snorted. "Luckily I don't mind spending time with Yachiru-fukutaichou because she's a sweetheart, but next time ask me before assuming I'll do you any favors."

Getting up from the couch, Kenpachi hooked his thumbs into his obi as he looked down at her, lips curling back into a grin. From his proximity and the full foot he had in height over her, he towered over her. "It only seemed fair that after I went through the trouble of gettin' you back to yer squad and all nice and tucked in'ta bed that you do me a favor in turn."

She stared up at him. "You are an asshole, you know that? Ugh, whatever," she turned around and waved her hand in the air. "I'm going to skip the training tonight, I want to give my mind a bit of a rest, so we'll go again tomorrow night," she called over her shoulder as she made her way to leave his office. But a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Luckily for him, the skin around her tattoos had hardened and was no longer sensitive. Shrugging off his hand, she whirled around to glare at him, her arms crossing back over her chest. "What?" she growled.

The anger, more than apparent on her face, slowly ebbed away.

Kenpachi was studying her. No grin, no smirk, no lecherous look upon his own face. The only look on his face was one of pure seriousness. He looked as though he wanted to say something, but he kept his mouth shut.

Unable to figure out what he was thinking, Keiko let her eyes unfocus, slowly glazing over, as she tried to look over his aura. Was that.. worry, she was feeling? The moment she thought she could feel it, it was gone.

And then it hit her: he had been concerned. Sending Yachiru-fukutaichou for a day of fun was just a ploy to get Keiko to come to the 11th Squad without anything seeming suspicious. He was checking up on her.

Her anger and annoyance were completely gone. Facial features softening visibly, her eyes came back into focus and she met his gaze for a moment before nodding, both as acceptance and in thanks. Turning around, she promptly left his office and Squad house to return to her own.

* * *

obi - the sash of the Shinigami uniform

**Kokoa-chan**

Yachiru's nickname of Keiko, taken from the -ko part of her name. Kokoa is the romnaji of cocoa, the yummy stuff used to make chocolate. Some of which I want now...

**The Letter**

Hiragana is the first step in learning the written form of the Japanese language. Can't remember for certain, but my professor mentioned that by the 4th or 5th grade (could be earlier or later), children are supposed to be writing with kanji (characters that represent full words). Used to reinforce both Kenpachi's laziness and lack of intelligence. If anyone is familiar with the Sailormoon series, think of the letter Queen Serenity sent to her past self in SuperS (or end of S, or beginning of Stars.. I can't remember.)

**Execution Grounds**

I realized I never actually explained this. Although, since no one really asked, I assume everyone knows it's that area where Rukia was going to be executed.

**Keiko**

So, I was rummaging through the BLEACH area, and suddenly Keiko's name caught my eye. At first, I was all "WTF?" and then realized that someone else named their chara Keiko. So, I guess this is kind of a disclaimer saying that I didn't rip the name off anyone else, it's pure coincidence, blah, blah, blah. Keiko's a fairly common name anyway, go figure.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos._


	8. Chapter 8

It was the pure and simple truth: if getting a bankai did not, in turn, mean challenging Keiko to a rematch, he would have throttled her long ago. It wasn't because she randomly yelled at him or smacked him (he found -that- fairly entertaining, for the most part), but he was just frustrated that he had made hardly any progress, and she was the only person in reach to take his anger out on. Night after night, the same thing would happen: he would sit on the ground while Keiko tried to form some sort of mental link between them, but continually wound up throwing up or coughing violently. A few times, he suggested going back to the old way (even though he -hated- the idea), but every time she would get all pissy and say no. Stubborn woman.

As usual, Kenpachi sat perched on a boulder at the execution grounds, an hour or two before Keiko was due, and tried his best to communicate with his zanpakuto. He would be silent, his eye closed, body relaxed, zanpakuto held in his hands, and he would picture the weapon in his mind. She was right about one thing - once he had gotten the hang of it, he could perfectly visualize his zanpakuto with a single touch. But that seemed to be it. He couldn't figure out what the hell he was supposed to do next. He tried mentally coaxing his zanpakuto to talk to him, tried visualizing the blade taking on some human shape, he even got the point of gripping the hilt and shaking it, as though he were choking someone. Nothing worked, and it only fed his frustration.

"I think I can do it this time," Keiko said, sitting down on the ground and motioning for him to sit beside her. He did.

"What makes you think ya' can do it this time?"

"I don't know," she replied, looking up at him. "I mean, last night, yeah, I threw up, blah, blah, blah, but, I can tell I'm getting used to the shock. It doesn't hit me as hard. Don't know why, but I can just tell."

Kenpachi merely shrugged. He had wanted to give up days ago, more annoyed with himself than anything else, but Keiko wouldn't hear it. Stupid woman.. There was a possibility that if this all worked out, she might kill herself, and even then, he -still- might not learn his zanpakuto's name. Seemed to be a waste to let a perfectly good opponent just die like that. Then who would he fight? Ichigo? The idea didn't excite him anymore. Ichigo was like yesterday's fad; fighting him would be boring after he had fought Keiko.

"Whenever you're ready," he muttered, closing his eye and letting his massive body relax. He felt her finger touch his forehead, and as usual, felt a twinge run through his body, like a low voltage of electricity coursing across his skin. Aside from the initial tingling sensation, Kenpachi never felt, heard or saw anything else happen, at least until he felt the link sever. The moment she would remove her finger, his skin felt as though it had been dipped in freezing cold water, then exposed to very hot air. It was strange and uncomfortable, but it didn't hurt like it obviously hurt Keiko.

This time, though, the link stayed in place longer than he could remember. Maybe she -was- getting the hang of it. The thought was confirmed when he felt his stomach flip and all the blood in his body rushed to his head. A kaleidoscope of colors flashed before his eyes, various reds, blacks and whites, and despite trying to tell his body 'no', he felt disgustingly nauseous. Before he fell forward and threw up his dinner, everything stopped moving and rushed into place. Opening his eye, he blinked a few times and noticed that he couldn't see the execution grounds. There was no ground, no sky, no walls, but despite that, everywhere he looked, he saw red.

"What the fuck?" he asked, turning to look at Keiko beside him, but she wasn't there. Well, shit, had she finally done it?

So... what was he supposed to do now? She hadn't exactly explained it to him aside from mentioning that she would be the one to try and figure out what was going on. So, what should he do in the meantime?

Without really thinking, Kenpachi stood up, and finally noticed that his zanpakuto wasn't in his hands, nor at hiw waist. Brow furrowing, he quickly looked around, but it just wasn't there. Shrugging, he picked a direction and started moving forward, but absolutely nothing changed. Everything remained red, and nothing came into view. Raising a hand in front of him, he stared at it for a moment, but it seemed normal - normal white color of his skin, the same scars scattered along his fingers and palm. He looked back up, and everything was still red. Trippy..

The sound of rustling chains met his ears, and immediately, a shiver ran up his spine as he felt another person's aura. For lack of a better description, the aura was creepy. It didn't seem human, but it felt purely malicious, as though it wanted to rip Kenpachi to shreds. Not something he would admit, but it -scared- him, and Kenpachi didn't scare... at -all-...

He quickly whirled around and his eye locked on a black.. void. Straight across from him, an area, maybe ten yards before him, pulsated, black in color. The blackness seemed to be absorbing the redness of the area, and it was growing, though slowly. The longer he looked, the more it felt as though his mind were playing tricks on him. As the black void grew, Kenpachi felt himself getting smaller, but just as he was about to look away, he heard the rustling of chains again, and from the center of the black void, he could see something take shape.

Because of the distance between him and the black void, it was hard for Kenpachi to tell what exactly it was that was taking shape. He was beginning to feel nauseous again, but this time he couldn't take his eye off the void.

"What are you doing here?"

Kenpachi shuddered at hearing the voice.. or, voices. It was an overlap of male and female, young and old voices, and it echoed, eerily. He opened his mouth to say that he didn't know, but he couldn't speak, he could only stare. A human form took shape, and, unsure whether or not he could trust his sight, he thought it wore a Shinigami uniform. The human, the thing, whatever it was, was red, like the rest of the area Kenpachi stood in. He saw no specific details except for a flutter of pants (the hakama, if he was right about the uniform) and the swaying of chains. The thing had black chains coiled around its body, it's arms, legs, waist, neck, and the ends swayed in the air, clinking quietly. Where the face should have been located was another black void.

Heart pounding in his chest, Kenpachi found himself breathing heavily, droplets of sweat beginning to slide down his face and neck. In his entire life, Kenpachi had never been scared. Why would he? He wasn't afraid of dying, and, as far as he knew, nothing could kill him. What else was there to -be- afraid of? But this thing, this person, it scared him. He didn't know what it was, what it was doing. All he knew, was that it hated him. It wanted his blood, it wanted to make him bleed, wanted to make him suffer. The aura he could feel emitting from it was pure chaos and hate, it was animalistic, it was uncontrollable.

"What are you doing here?"

The question was repeated, different voices overlapping. And again, Kenpachi opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't.

A shriek filled the air, so loud, so painful, that Kenpachi wanted to reach up and cover his ears. He couldn't, because the thing was running at him. He started to backup, but before it -should- have reached him, it was in his face, chains rattling loudly. The only thing that filled his vision was the things face, or rather, the mask that covered it. The mask was red, like the rest of its body, oval in shape, and it covered the entirety of the face except for the eyes where there was a horizontal slit for each eye. Rather than eyes, Kenpachi saw black, darkness, nothingness, voids, tendrils of black seeping shadows. And then he fell over.

With a shout, the 11th Squad Captain was on his feet and backing up. But apparently, he had woken up. He saw the execution grounds, the moon and stars, Keiko curled up on the ground at his feet. His heart was continuing to pound, the sweat already beginning to dry. When he saw Keiko begin to shift, he knelt down and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her back, trying to get her to look up at him. "Was that it? Was that my zanpakuto?"

Keiko groaned, her bangs shading her eyes. "If you have to ask that, you should know the answer. You'd recognize your zanpakuto if you saw it," she replied, her voice quiet and gritty, as though she had swallowed sand.

"Then what the fuck WAS that thing?!" he yelled, shaking her. Kenpachi didn't understand. If he couldn't understand something, couldn't ignore it and he couldn't kill it, it scared him. He was frantic.

Lifting her head up, a wry smile spread over Keiko's lips. "It was mine."

* * *

hakama - the "pants" part of the Shinigami uniform

I apologize for this being so short. I have plenty more to write about, but it just doesn't seem right to add anything to this chapter. Oh well.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos._


	9. Chapter 9

GASP! Notes before the actual chapter!

One thing I would like to explain, since a few people have commented on it is my writing style. Before I ever actually started writing, I was a live, text-based RPer (T1 Story, Turn Based for anyone familiar with that, very similar to MUXs), and I RPed for -years-. Very often, my friends and I would be competitive with our posts, basically doing what we could to make our post longer than the previous one. This would almost always require a -ton- of "throwing the shit" - we'd add so much description that almost everything could be perfectly visualized (sight, scent, smell, etc) even if it really didn't have -anything- to do with what our characters were doing (birds chirping, scent of rain, so on and so forth). It seriously turned into such a pissing contest...

Anyway, I have been trying fairly hard to tone down on this in my writing because I know to most people it probably seems either annoying, or even obnoxious, but, I know to a degree it still comes through very heavily. Also, because we'd very often save transcripts of the sessions, I sometimes have a tendency to follow those - switching PoVs constantly between characters. Another thing I'm trying not to do.

I'd also like to note to everyone actually up to this chapter and reading everything beforehand that I'm going for a chapter a day. It's what I've been doing from the start, and it's what I hope to keep doing until I get that dreaded disease known as writer's block.

(P.S. - above notes inspired by EdgeOfTheBlade because for some reason I didn't get an email about his review, and I'm too lazy to go into his profile to send him a message. So naughty of me.)

To Magnapede - I have not yet gotten that far into the story, even in those chapters that I have already written but not yet posted. It will probably be quite a while until Keiko and Kenpachi have their rematch, so I'm not going to reveal anything right now.

* * *

Keiko had been too weak to move, and Kenpachi had been to frantic to be alone, combine the two, and he literally threw her over his shoulder and brought her back to her Squad. Sometime along the way, she had passed out. Barging into the 9th Squad house, Kenpachi quickly looked around to see that the Squad was all asleep. Had he not been as disheveled as he was, he would have taken the time to smirk and make some comment about how the Squad was full of pussies, going to bed so early. But he didn't, because at that moment, he was quite glad no one saw him carry a passed out Keiko into her office. With little effort, he shrugged her off his shoulder and onto the couch.

Sake. He needed sake. Maybe Keiko did too, but fuck that, -he- needed to get alcohol in his system. That being the foremost thing in his mind, Kenpachi promptly started checking her desk for alcohol.

"What the -hell- are you doing here?"

Standing up, Kenpachi looked towards the entrance of Keiko's office to see her lieutenant standing there. "Looking for sake. What's it look like I'm doing?" Just his luck. Everyone else had been asleep, why not 69-face? With that, Kenpachi ignored him and bent back over the desk to look for sake.

"And what the fuck did you do to her?"

Sighing in annoyance, Kenpachi rolled his eye before looking over to the couch where 69 was knelt on the floor next to the passed out Keiko. "-I- didn't do anything. Ask the stubborn ass woman yourself when she wakes up," he snorted. Apparently, some time during his search for sake, his heartbeat had returned to normal and his body had calmed down. Good. He didn't need to hear shit from 69 about looking as though he, Kenpachi, were scared shit-less.

"Bottom drawer on the left," 69-face muttered, his hand resting on Keiko's forehead. He stared at Kenpachi when he found the bottle and started to drink from it. "At least save some for her."

Kenpachi lowered the bottle from his lips, belched, then wiped his lips off on the back of his sleeve. "Calm yer ass," he retorted, shoving the cork in the bottle before chucking it at the lieutenant.

69 rolled his own eyes after catching the bottle and uncorking it. Promptly ignoring Kenpachi, he moved the bottle until it was under Keiko's nose and waited.

"I.. am way too nauseous for sake... get that shit outta' my face..." Keiko grunted.

So, she was finally awake. Immediately, Kenpachi had a thousand questions to ask her, first and foremost about her zanpakuto. But, there was 69. Kenpachi would -not- ask Keiko such questions when someone else was around. From the concerned look on the lieutenant's face, Kenpachi knew 69 wasn't going to be leaving Keiko alone for a while. His questions would have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, Kenpachi needed to get drunk and pass out.

Walking over to the couch, Kenpachi grabbed the sake bottle from 69 before strolling towards the exit. "You've got a nurse, so I'm gonna' go get piss ass drunk," he called over his shoulder before disappearing back to his own Squad.

"Did he just take all my sake?" Keiko muttered, finally opening her eyes to look up at Shuuhei.

"Yeah," he rolled his eyes. "You alright? What'd he do to you?"

"I've been better," she replied, slowly sitting up. "And he actually didn't do anything. It was all me."

Shuuhei stared at her as though waiting for her to go on.

A weak smile came to her lips. "Sorry. Can't really explain anything. He'd kill you and then me if I opened my mouth."

"So I guess you can't explain where you've been going and what you've been doing every night for the past few months?"

Keiko shook her head. "It's... touchy..." she replied slowly, trying to find a suitable word.

"I think I have a right to know, as your lieutenant, what the hell's going on that would require Kenpachi having to carry you here passed out on more than one occasion."

He was getting angry, and Keiko actually felt bad. But she had, in a way, promised Kenpachi she wouldn't open her mouth about this to anyone. She was not going to betray his trust, even if he didn't fully trust her yet. "I can't," she replied quietly, shaking her head.

"Keiko..." he started, getting off the floor to sit on the couch beside her. "Not only are you my Captain, but you're a friend, a -good- friend. I understand you may not want to tell me what's going on, but even if it's something as private as your sex life, I would hope--"

"WOAH! Woah, woah, woah!" Keiko yelled, hopping off the couch, her hands raised defensively. "You think... You..." Eyes bulging in disbelief, she quickly moved back over to him and dropped her voice to a whisper for fear she might have woken up some of the Squad. "You think I'm sleeping with Kenpachi?!"

"Well, he's brought you back here twice..."

"EW! I mean, literally, EW! I have -not- been sleeping with him!" she hissed. "Oh, god, ick.. ick, ick, ick.." she shuddered and began rubbing her hands on her Captain's jacket, as though trying to get rid of something disgusting. "Ughh! I can't believe you would -think- that!"

"You disappear every night when almost everyone's asleep, and then, twice, he brings you back here passed out. What else was I supposed to think?" he asked, watching her with an eyebrow raised.

"I've been trying to teach him how to use his bankai, not -sleeping- with him-aah shit.." she quickly clapped her hands over her mouth.

"Hah!" he yelled, standing up and pointing at her.

For a few moments, Keiko stared at her lieutenant, watching the look of triumph on his face. Wait a second... Eyes narrowing, Keiko let her hands drop to her sides. "You conniving little.." she growled as realization dawned on her. So, he had planned that. He never really thought she had been sleeping with Kenpachi. The little smart ass had played her emotions in just the right way so that she'd spill the truth. Keiko was not happy. She quickly closed the distance between them and began smacking him repeatedly.

He only laughed, trying to bring his arms up to block some of the hits. "I'm sorry!" he continued to laugh. "But you should have seen your face!"

"I hate you right now." She stopped smacking him and moved her hands to rest on her hips. "And I swear to -god-, if you tell -any-one about this, I will make your life a living -hell-."

"I promise, I won't say a thing," he chuckled.

"And how am I supposed to trust you -now-?" she growled, reaching out to hit him again.

He dodged it this time and slipped behind her, his hands snaking out to snag her wrists and bring her arms up into the air where they wouldn't be able to hit him. "Have I ever lied to you?"

"No, but you -have- been deceitful," she muttered, sharply yanking on her arms to make him let go.

Shuuhei laughed again and let go. "I promise I will keep my mouth shut." He quickly stepped around her, avoiding another smack.

"Get out!" she growled, kicking out at him as he continued to laugh and quickly left her office.

* * *

There have always been different types of drunks. Some people get happy, some angry, stupid, sad, retarded... Everyone's different. Kenpachi included. When he was drunk, it was almost impossible to tell. Sure, he got all quiet and broody, but he always seemed like his normal "leave-me-the-fuck-alone" self. It was during those times that he generally sat, drank and... thought. Contrary to popular belief, he was a fairly insightful person.

To a degree.

The moment he had returned to his Squad house, he quickly finished off Keiko's sake then raided his office and room for more. Three bottles, total, were all he could find, and at the moment, it was plenty. Plopping down on the floor in the main area of the house, a few of his Squad members still awake, he quickly started to consume the alcohol. Not something he wanted to admit, but until he was obliviously drunk, he didn't want to be alone. Images of that.. that.. -thing- kept appearing in his mind, and he didn't like it. Not one bit.

He had felt bloodlust before, he had felt anger, spite, hate, all those yummy emotions that were generally tied to a life or death battle, generally aimed at him. He liked those emotions. He could understand them, sometimes even have them himself, though that was rare. What bothered him so much at the moment was what he had felt resonating from.. he hated to say it.. from Keiko's zanpakuto. It was nothing he had ever felt before, and being unable to comprehend or, his favorite, beat it down, it gave him the creeps. It was as if the manifestation of her soul was a combination of all those negative emotions and more. If there had ever been an actual definition of "evil", he was pretty certain her zanpakuto was it.

And that was another thing that bothered him. How could that.. -thing-.. be what was in Keiko's soul? He had fought her. He knew her, not completely or explicitly, but after fighting her, he knew what she was, what she was about. Then, bam, having that -thing- shoved in his face? They were like polar opposites. It was another thing that just didn't make sense.

So, Kenpachi continued to drink until the alcohol running through his body -forced- him to sleep because it was the only thing that would clear his mind. The next day, however, was a different story. Good ol' hangovers. Luckily for Kenpachi, most everyone knew when he was in the most foul of moods, and they avoided him, Yachiru (thankfully!) included.

After taking care of the few things he did as Captain (good old Ikkaku and Yumichika took care of the bulk of the work), he went straight to the execution grounds, despite the fact that it would be hours until Keiko would show up for his lessons. That was, if she even -did- show up. Either way, the place was empty and quiet, just how he liked it when his head felt as though it had been repeatedly beat with a crowbar. Taking advantage of the alone time, he tried, repeatedly, to communicate with his zanpakuto. And for a while, the job calmed his mind and kept it away from other unpleasant memories, but every so often his mind would drift away and images of the -thing- appeared in his mind.

Just as he was about to give up for the night and return to his Squad, the sound of footsteps reached his ears, and he watched Keiko make her way towards him. Huh, stubborn woman indeed. He was surprised to see her, honestly. He had figured she'd take a night off, considering the strain yesterday had put on her. Finding it quite appropriate to tell her this, he opened his mouth, but stopped. His eye came to stare at her mouth. "What the fuck is that?"

"Wha'?" Keiko stopped and blinked, pulling a small lollipop out of her mouth. "It's a lollipop. Yachiru-chan gave it to me because she said I looked sad. These things are actually pretty good..."

Was she kidding? Was she fucking kidding? This was the woman he had fought only a few months ago? This was the woman with an evil zanpakuto? This -woman- who stood here sucking on candy was the only person who had ever, EVER fought him to the point he could feel his soul unburden itself. Unable to contain the annoyance, Kenpachi groaned and actually smacked his palm into his forehead. Maybe it wasn't him. Maybe everybody -except- him was going fucking crazy...

Eyebrow raised, Keiko popped the lollipop back into her mouth and eyed Kenpachi. "What're you so cranky for?" she asked, her speech slightly slurred from the candy knocking against her teeth and tongue as she spoke.

Slowly, Kenpachi raised his head and stared at her. "Forget it," he shook his head, downright amazed that she didn't get it. Whatever. "So, you wanna' explain what the fuck happened last night?" he changed the subject. Finally, he would have the chance to unload his abnormally overburdened mind and ask all the questions that had welled up in there over the past 24 hours.

"Uhh.." Keiko paused, shifting the pop to the left side of her mouth. "Hrm.." Slipping her arms into the opposite pockets of her haori, she sat down on the boulder and shrugged. "A.. uhm.. Hm. Let's just say I wasn't expecting -you- to wind up in -my- mind."

"How'd you fuck -that- up?" he retorted with a snort.

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. "I told you, I understand the -basics- of what I need to do; I've never -done- this before! So bitch less please.." she trailed off, apparently quite annoyed she -had- fucked up to begin with. Sighing, she went on: "I guess what I did just backfired, is all. I finally got the connection to stick, and then things sort of went in reverse."

"No shit.."

Glare.

He ignored it. "So the thing that wanted to rip my head off was your zanpakuto?"

Keiko nodded slowly, now looking down at the ground.

"And it wanted to tear me to pieces -why-?"

"Because it could?"

He stared at her.

"I don't know how to really explain it... Chiakki is nothing more than a blood thirsty demon... It cares for nothing except blood. It's the reason I have to cut myself and bleed to get it to release to shikai form. It likes my blood, so, it's basically why we have a blood pact: I bleed myself for it, it'll release it's first form. I guess because you entered my mind, which is basically it's territory, that it wanted to kill you. Fresh blood," she smiled weakly.

"Is that why you have those seal things?"

"Sort of. I'd rather not explain that, though.."

Kenpachi snorted. "So I can be tha' guinea pig for this whole process, wind up seeing shit I'd rather have never seen before, and I don't get an actual explanation? Doesn' seem fair ta' me."

"Well doesn't that just suck for -you-," she growled. "Excuse me for not wanting to go into detail about something which is nearly ten times -worse- than Chiakki. But, really, if you want to hear about it, I'll be glad to explain it in vivid details! Or better yet, I'll make another mental link between us and let you see first hand what it is my seals keep locked away! 'cuz, I tell ya', if Chiakki scares you, wait till you see my -real- problem! You'll be pissing your pants and crying like a baby afterwards!"

Sensitive subject. Kenpachi got that. "Alright, alright, calm the fuck down, woman. I won't ask about it again." Damn, was she PMSing or something? Better change the subject. "So... what do ya' have ta' do ta' get it to release its bankai?"

"Bleed a lot more," she muttered, glaring at him.

...Alright, another subject he wouldn't bother asking about again. "So... how is it... that your soul, which is.. basically the essence of you.. so different from.. you?" He had the question, but it was fairly hard to put into words.

Keiko shrugged. "It ties in with these seals, but.. Think of the Yin and the Yang. What is -me- is split in two: Keiko and Chiakki. Sitting here in front of you is one side, me, the Keiko. Obviously, you, of all people, can tell I have a little bit of Chiakki in me from the fight. Which then leads me to assume Chiakki has a little bit of me in it, but... I haven't seen that yet."

Kenpachi nodded, actually understanding what she was saying, probably because he had fought her -and- he had seen her inner world.

After a few moments of silence, Keiko was the one to first speak up: "So, you ready to start training?"

"You ready to not fuck up again?"

And promptly Keiko took her shoe off and chucked it at his face.

* * *

OMG SYMBOLISM! LOLOLOL

For those of you that might actually notice this, yes, the names and honorifics of some people's names have been changing. I.E. Keiko no longer calling Shuuhei and Yachiru by the lieutenant honorific. Is there a reason? Maybe. Maaaaybe.

And it's a little late, but I'm too lazy to go back and edit the previous chapter's notes. About Chiakki's mask - it is not inspired by Vizards or, in particular, Ichigo's Vizard mask. In actuality, when I was thinking of Chiakki's basic design, Vega from Street Fighter kept popping into my head, so, voila. And, yeah, a lot of different things from books, games, other anime/manga all give me ideas and inspiration for my writing. (Duhh.)

Very random: I've come to notice that this documents program thing in FFnet gets rid of double spacing... Not between lines, but period space, space. That really annoys me for some reason...

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos_.


	10. Chapter 10

**Warning**: I have been consuming a -lot- of coffee lately. There's a little fluff ahead that, and although it doesn't have _much _to do with the story (little bit of a plot device, -big- bit of filler) I couldn't -not- write it. Very teen rated though, so no worries.

* * *

"So, how's the training going with Kenpachi?" Shuuhei spoke up from the couch.

Keiko quickly looked up, pulling a lollipop out of her mouth. "I thought I asked you not to mention that! No, change that, you promised you wouldn't." A frown came to her lips. He and Keiko were in her office, Keiko at her desk working on every day paperwork, Shuuhei sitting in front of a table working on the magazine.

Rolling his eyes, he turned around to face her. "Kei, look around, no one's here. It's Saturday, and most of the Squad takes the chance to get outta' the Squad house and out into Seireitei and Rukongai."

"Yeah, I know, but still... And anyway, since when do you call me 'Kei'?" she asked, her nose scrunched up.

"Since you stopped referring to me as lieutenant."

"Touche," she shrugged, looking back down at the paper before her as she slipped the candy back into her mouth. "Just don't call me that in front of anyone else."

"Yes, -Captain-," he replied, adding more stress to her title than was necessary. With a shake of his head, Shuuhei rolled his eyes a second time, but unlike her, he didn't return to the papers before him. Instead, he slipped off the couch and stepped up to her desk, palms pressing down into the wooden desktop as he looked down at her. "You didn't answer my question."

With a sigh, Keiko dropped the pen she was holding and leaned back in her chair to look up at him. "It's going. Not very fast... very slow, in fact, but it's going." It was something that Keiko felt bad about. Ever since her last fuck up, she had been overly cautious with training, which, sadly, basically pushed them back a few days. She was afraid to let him see into her soul again, and because of that, she couldn't get the connection to stick. So, like before, she'd wind up on her hands and knees puking up everything she had eaten through the day. Though, having started to become obsessed with lollipops, her mouth didn't always have a disgusting taste in it afterward.

Reaching out, Shuuhei pressed his thumb against the front of her chin, his pointer finger curled and placed under her chin. He then proceeded to lift her head up and down, then side to side as he examined her face.

"What, exactly, are you doing?" she questioned, her words slurred and muffled from a combination of the lollipop and the pressure he had on her chin.

With the other hand, he snagged the lollipop and pulled it out of her mouth so she could talk. "You should think about stopping for a few days. You always look tired lately, and your skin tone's not very good. First step to getting sick," he nodded sagely, as though he were really a member of the Fourth Squad.

"I still have more of a tan than -you-, tattoo-face," she countered, despite knowing he was right.

"And you should probably stop eating these," he waved the lollipop into the air. "I swear, you suck on these things like air - you always have one in your mouth anymore. I think Yachiru's beginning to affect you."

Leaning back away from his grasp, Keiko flexed her jaw before holding her hand out. "Maybe, but I like them. They're good. Now can I have it back?"

"Nope." With that, Shuuhei popped the lollipop into his mouth.

"What the fuck!" Keiko yelled, quickly standing up and trying to snatch the candy from him, but Shuuhei was too quick, and backed away in time. "I'm not even going to begin telling you how gross that is, but that's not the point. That's -my- candy!" She moved around her desk and tried to snag it back from him a second time, but again, she was too slow.

Shuuhei laughed, pushing the lollipop to the right side of his mouth. "If it's so gross, why do you want it back?"

"It's the -principle!-" With that, Keiko physically lept at him, colliding with his body and bringing him to the ground. Repeatedly, she tried to snag the candy out of his mouth, but Shuuhei only continued to laugh and dodge her grasp. Eventually, she pinned him down, sitting on his stomach and holding his wrists above his head, against the ground. "Will you give me my lollipop back now, -please-?"

In response, a loud crunch was heard from Shuuhei's mouth. He spit the stick out, off to the side, and grinned up at her as he chewed and swallowed the candy.

Keiko's jaw dropped as she stared down at him. "Ugh, -ass-!"

"Hm, you're right," he spoke between chews. "These are good."

With a snort, Keiko stood up before offering her hand to help him up. "I told you so. You owe me a lollipop now."

Shuuhei reached up to take her hand, but rather than get up, he yanked on her hand. Taken surprise, Keiko fell forward on top of him, her hands pressing into his chest to stop her fall. "You sure it's a -lollipop- you want right now?" he grinned at her before closing the already small distance between them and kissed her.

Keiko's eyes nearly popped out of her head, and her pale cheeks quickly turned a bright crimson. Before she could react, her mind swarmed with thoughts: What the fuck just happened? Is Shuuhei kissing me? -Why- is Shuuhei kissing me? This shouldn't happen - I'm a Captain, and he's my lieutenant! He's a really good kisser... But, the body is generally faster to react than the mind, and, focusing on the last thought, Keiko simply returned the kiss.

As things generally go, the simple kiss quickly turned into something more, something a lot more hot and a lot more heavy. Shuuhei's hands slipped under her haori, onto her upper arms. When he started to push the white jacket off of her shoulders, Keiko found herself freezing up. Almost immediately, her mind realized that the moment he saw the tattoos, he would ask about them, and now was certainly not the best of times to go into it... Maybe if she quickly rolled over so that she was on the bottom...

Luckily (or, not so luckily) for her, the door to her office slid open and a loud cough caused the two Shinigami to promptly break the kiss and look up at the interrup-- err, 'guest'.

"Soifon-taichou," Keiko stared at her mentor, the redness at her cheeks deepening from embarrassment.

"'eh hem, sorry to interrupt, but.." she paused, looking at Keiko and Shuuhei. She shook her head before continuing: "I came to let you know that there's a Captain's meeting in ten minutes. I'll wait for you outside." With that, the Second Squad Captain closed the door, leaving the 9th Squad leaders alone.

Clearing her throat, Keiko quickly got up off of Shuuhei and arranged her uniform so it fit her properly. Despite the fact that she had thoroughly enjoyed that kiss, she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. She nodded once to him before making a beeline for the exit, but was stopped by his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey," he called out to her, but when she didn't look up at him, he moved around in front of her and slipped a hand under her chin to lift her head up.

Pretty much now being forced to look up at him, she tried her best to look serious, but, who was she kidding, what with the blush still on her cheeks and the way her lips had swelled up. "We'll talk about this later," she spoke quietly, before leaning up to kiss his cheek. Nodding once, she turned and left her office.

"So, you and Hisagi-fukutaichou, huh?" Soifon-oneesan's voice rang out as Keiko stepped out of the 9th Squad house.

"Oh, shut it," Keiko mumbled, refusing to face her mentor as she made her way towards the meeting room.

"Hey, no reason to get so upset. I always told you you needed to find someone to help you release all that pent up sexual frustration," she smiled, catching up with Keiko and walking beside her.

"Oh? Look who's talking, Miss I-Love-My-Mentor. Have you even -spoken- to Shihouin-sama about how you feel?"

Soifon-oneesan cringed, and Keiko could tell that the older woman wanted to hit her for the comment, but, -she- had started it. "Guess I deserved that," Soifon-oneesan muttered.

"Yes, you did. That subject aside, why wasn't a jigokuchou just sent to tell me about the meeting?"

"Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou wanted me to make sure you knew to stay after the meeting to have your seals redone," Soifon-oneesan replied, her voice having dropped to low tones, her speech twined with sympathy for her protege.

A visible shudder rippled through Keiko's body, and she closed her eyes for a moment. "I had forgotten it was time to have them redone.."

Stopping, Soifon-oneesan reached out and grabbed Keiko's arm, stopping the shorter woman as well. "There's also bad news... I won't be able to be there when the seals are done. Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou is sending me out on a mission with the Onmitsukido immediately after the meeting." She paused, watching Keiko, whose eyes had widened. "Do you want to go back and get Hisagi-fukutaichou? Have him stay with you while they're done?"

Keiko swallowed the lump in her throat. No matter how many times she would have the seals redone, it always scared her. The pain that her body was put through could not be explained in words. She had come to the realization long ago that nothing could help make the pain better, but, there was always some comfort in the back of her mind when she knew that someone was there with her throughout the ordeal, that person, obviously, being Soifon-oneesan. "No," she finally spoke up, her voice choked as she bit back a cry. "He doesn't have a clue about them."

"Who are you going to have stay with you, then? You know someone -needs- to at least stay there while you recover, and neither Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou nor Sasakibe-fukutaichou can do that."

Eventually forcing a grin to her lips, Keiko finally looked up. "I have someone in mind. Someone who owes me much more than just a bottle of sake."

* * *

Another meeting. Didn't they just have one two weeks ago? Waste of time...

Kenpachi stood in line, as he usually did, like all the other Captains, and sighed inwardly. Even before the meeting had begun, his mind was already wandering to other important things: sake and whether or not he had to go out and buy some more.

"Stay after the meeting."

Blinking a few times, Kenpachi looked down to see Keiko fall into line beside him. "What?"

"I said, stay after the meeting."

When she turned to look away from him, he shrugged and settled his weight back onto the heels of his feet. After a few more minutes of wasted time of waiting, the old man appeared and took his place at the head of the two lines of Captains.

"I apologize for convening a meeting on such short notice, but it had some to my attention that there is an unusually high number of Hollow appearing in..."

Hollows? Ass kicking involved? Kenpachi actually started to pay attention to the old man.

"...Karakura. After having been told by the multiple Shinigamis we have out on patrol in and around the area, the decision has been passed to send a Captain to the location to gather information as well as taking care of any imminent dangers. Before picking a Captain to do this, I will first allow time for someone to volunteer."

There it was. Volunteer. No Captain in his right mind ever volunteered for these excursions to the real world. Nine times out of ten, it wound up being some false alarm and a waste of time. Kenpachi thought about it, for a millisecond. The asskicking he would enjoy, but intel? That was not something Kenpachi would volunteer for. Ever.

"I'll go."

Eyebrow raised, Kenpachi craned his head to look down at Keiko. What the fuck was she thinking?

"I'm the newest Captain. It would only seem fair if I go. Might as well save everyone else's time," she smiled. A few of the other Captains nodded, some smiled in return.

"Very well," the old man continued. "You can all thank Akuuno-taichou for making this meeting short and painless. You are dismissed."

Kenpachi turned, like the rest of the Captains, to leave, but was stopped by Keiko standing on his foot.

"Stay!" she hissed.

And rather than having to deal with her bitching later, he sighed and stayed. When all the other Captains had left, he turned to look down at her. "And why am I staying?"

"You get to help -me- with something this time."

What the fuck kind of reasoning was that? He wanted to reach out and smack her, but before he could follow through with the thought, the old man spoke up.

"I assume Soifon-taichou told you she couldn't be here?"

Keiko nodded. "Yes. Zaraki-taichou is the only other person who knows about the seals, so he will stay and assist."

"Very well," the old man replied, taking a scroll from his lieutenant.

What? Assist with what? He never said he would!

"Before the seals are redone, I have a request," she continued. The old man nodded. "I know it is routine for a lieutenant to accompany the Captain to the real world, but I would also like to request Zaraki-taichou comes as well."

WHAT?!

"As I said before, he is the only other person who knows about the seals. And I know, as well as you do, Soutaichou, that overall it is fairly dangerous for me, of all Captains, to stay away from Soul Society for a long period of time. I am certain that if anything out of the ordinary should occur that Zaraki-taichou is one of the few people that would be able to deal with things."

Why the fuck was she volunteering him for this shit?

The old man nodded. "Request granted. You will explain to him what he may need to do?" She nodded. "And should things take longer than necessary, you will be sure to return here to have your seals redone?"

"Of course."

Kenpachi was furious. Who the fuck did she think she was?

"Just fucking nod and smile," Keiko muttered, apparently making a huge deal of taking her haori off, her back facing the old man. "I'll explain everything later and I'll make sure it's worth the while, so just nod and smile. Besides, your training won't go any where if you stay here while I'm off on a mission."

Well... that much was true. But still, what the fuck? "It better be worth it," he muttered.

After she let her haori fall to the floor, she motioned for him to follow her. She knelt down on the ground in front of the old man, her back facing him. "Kneel in front of me." Sighing in annoyance, he did. "All you have to do it sit there and keep me from falling over. Grab my upper arms." Reluctantly, he did. "Just kneel there and wait. When the whole thing is over, I'm going to pass out. You're going to have to stay here and make sure nothing happens to me."

"Whatever," he muttered as she slipped something into her mouth and bit down on it. Kenpachi looked up at the old man when an alien language met his ears, but before Kenpachi could wonder what language it was, he felt Keiko jerk and he tightened his hold on her arms as he looked down at her. Tears were beginning to stream from her eyes, and he raised an eyebrow. Was she really in that much pain? Depsite the fact she didn't show the least bit of evidence that she was in pain when they fought? Well, that was odd.

When flames burst from her back, Kenpachi nearly fell backwards, from the surprise of the fire, Keiko's screaming and how she continued to jerk around. Muttering something or other about not being warned about that, he tightened his hold on her and settled back on his haunches to get comfortable.

Eventually, the process ended (it took too long, he thought), and Kenpachi loosened his grip when he felt her muscles relax. Before he could ask what to do next, he felt her body fall forward, so rather than stop her, he just let go and she fell into him. Again with the passing out... With a sigh, he laid her out on the floor and sat back to wait for her to wake up.

* * *

Groaning softly, Keiko slowly opened her eyes to find she was lying on her stomach.

"Could've warned me you'd be passed out for so long."

Letting her eyes close, Keiko chuckled, "Oh, well." For a few moments, there was silence until she slowly sat up and spoke up: "You owed me. And anyway, do you at least now see why I don't want to go into details about these damned seals?" She heard him grunt in reply. Until she decided to explain what they kept bound, that subject was completely done, and Keiko was pretty certain Kenpachi knew it after having been there to experience the process.

"So, about making all this worth my while?"

"Mm. Patience, totally one of your virtues," she sighed, turning around to face him, but remaining sitting on the floor. "First, like I said before, if I go on this mission and you stay here, you won't be able to continue your training, so, you're welcome, since I thought about you when I volunteered." He scowled, she laughed. "Second, you'll be able to leave Yachiru-chan behind and in charge. Just think of the hell she'll put everyone in your Squad, except you, through while you're gone. Aside from the fact I'm sure you find that highly entertaining, in the long run, it might do you some good. If she does the whole 'in charge' thing now, she'll probably never bother you about it again." After seeing no response, she continued: "And third, I'd be willing to show you my bankai." She wasn't stupid, she knew how intrigued he was to see what the thing either looked like, or did. Probably what it did, because once he saw it, he'd more than likely want nothing more than to work his ass off to get his bankai and then challenge her to a rematch.

Kenpachi remained silent, but Keiko could see his brain working. When he shrugged, and did nothing more, she knew she had pretty much won that fight.

"So, what is it with you and passing out? Seriously, it's like yer day isn't complete unless do it."

If she hadn't been as tired and ache-y as she was, she would have chucked both shoes at his face...

* * *

I said it wouldn't be Kenpachi x OC, but I didn't say it wouldn't be SomeoneElse x OC. /cackles.. Oh, the cute romance, the corny dialogue. I love it!

Just want to make a note about this. I never actually planned to have this fic be Keiko x anyone. In fact, I was thinking of making her a lesbian and basically feeling for Soifon what Soifon feels for Yoruichi, but then I felt like I'd just been ripping that off, so I nixed the entire idea. Also, like I had already replied to one of my reviews: To be honest, I had thought of just going with the numbers (Shuusuke came in for Squad 3, that'd leave Squad 5 next), but thinking of trying to get Keiko into Squad 5 would require to try and flesh out Momo-chan, but even -thinking- of that depressed me because of how bad Aizen hurt her. ;-; Sooo, cheap way out - Squad 9! Cheap way to make it even easier and not have to focus on it - old friends with Shuuhei. X3 I'm so lazy..

In a way, Keiko's seals restrict what she can do. As said above, if she were away from Soul Society for a long period of time, she would need to make certain that she could get back and have the seals redone. In a way, this -could- prevent her from ever actually being able to go out on missions into the real world, but at the same time, if Yama, Soifon and Keiko all didn't feel that she would be responsible, then she wouldn't even be a Captain.

**"In charge thing"**

Sounds strange, and it may not even make sense, but I was thinking about an actual child when I wrote this. When a child wants to do something really, really badly, sometimes a person will let the child do it. When the child finds out how boring/annoying/etc it is, that it doesn't meet up to the child's expectations, the child doesn't ever want to do it again. Take Calvin and Hobbes for instance. Calvin wants to try a cigar, his mom lets him, after he tries it, he pretty much never wants to try one again because it's just so nasty.

And for those of you that actually read the notes, a question: when speaking about multiple Shinigami - two Shinigami or two Shinigamis? They both sound fine, and yet don't.. Opinions, please!

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos._


	11. Chapter 11

To Magnapede - "Zaraki would come back to see the entire 11th division transformed into a candy factory or something." I couldn't -not- laugh at that.. The images! And, yeah, all in all, Yachiru would enjoy it. Personally, I think after a while, she might get bored of it. Might, key word. Keiko, having had very few interactions with her (the "shopping trip", the candy, and any other short meetings not written about), still only views her as a child, and since children get bored with things very easily... She has yet to -see- Yachiru be serious. Yachiru also -exudes- cuteness and innocence, so that's what Keiko would feel in her aura as well.

* * *

It had been arranged that Keiko and co. would arrive in one of Karakura's parks late at night when it would be empty and they would be met by Kuchiki Rukia, Abarai Renji and the Subtitute Shinigami. So, when Keiko, Shuuhei and Kenpachi actually showed up, Keiko was thoroughly surprised by the fact that it wasn't three people that came to meet them, but six, err, seven.. if you included the small stuffed lion...

Shuuhei nodded to Renji and Rukia as Keiko scratched the back of her head. "I'm surprised there are so many of you here to meet us. Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou only mentioned three of you. And to be honest, I don't know who's who," she smiled weakly.

The shortest girl stepped forward to speak. "I'm Kuchiki Rukia, member of the 13th Squad, this is Abarai Renji, lieutenant of the 6th Squad, Kurosaki Ichigo, the Substitute Shinigami, and our friends Inoue Orihime, Sado Yasutora and Ishida Uryuu, the Quincy," she pointed to each person as she named them, most of them bowing to her, except for the Substitute Shinigami. Keiko raised an eyebrow at the orange-haired's unusually pale face and eyes which were wide in horror. She followed his trail of vision to see that he was staring at Kenpachi. How... odd. She'd have to ask Kenpachi about that later.

Shrugging, she turned back to everyone and bowed in return. "I am Akuuno Keiko, Captain of the 9th Squad. Apparently you all know my lieutenant, Hisagi Shuuhei," she spoke, glancing at Shuuhei. "But, uhh.." her eyes trailed down to the small yellow stuffed animal. "Who.. or.. what is that?" she pointed down at it and stared at Kuchiki-san.

"That is Kon," Rukia frowned at the small stuffed animal. "And I suggest you try to stay away from him. He's nothing more than a leech."

"But Nee-san!" Kon whined and leapt up to try and attach himself to Rukia's chest. Rukia, having apparently been prepared for this, promptly smacked Kon away before he could hit his mark. The lion hit the floor and bounced a few feet away, squeaking all the while.

Keiko chuckled, actually finding the thing kind of cute. "Oh, by the way, Kuchiki-san, your brother gave me something to give you," she started, reaching into her obi. "Ah, here," she nodded, pulling a delicate ivory comb from the fabric and offering it to her fellow Shinigami. Rukia's eyes widened and sparkled as she carefully took the item. "Onee-sama!" she gushed, her attention now fully on the small comb in her hands. Keiko raised an eyebrow, but shrugged. "And Abarai-san, Kuchiki-taichou told me to give you a message."

"Huh?" Renji looked up, having been speaking with Shuuhei.

"He says, and I quote, 'Rukia better be well taken care of. If anything happens to her, I shall personally hold you responsible.' Uhh, he didn't look happy, either, but he never really does," she shrugged.

With a sigh, Renji let his head fall forward in defeat and Shuuhei laughed, patting his friend's shoulder.

"Inoue-san?" Keiko looked towards the last female of the group. The girl looked up quickly, a genuine smile on her face. "I'm sorry for being so last minute, and possibly rude, about this, but Matsumoto-fukutaichou told me how she and her Captain stayed with you while they were last here on a mission. Would it be a problem if myself, Hisagi-fukutaichou and Zaraki-taichou stayed with you for the duration of our time here? I will most certainly make sure you're well compensated for the trouble."

"Sure, it's not a problem!" she smiled, replying chipper-ly, but glancing every so often at Kenpachi, a look of slight worry on her face.

Brow furrowing, Keiko looked around and noticed how almost everyone kept glancing at Kenpachi, and they all looked as though they were downright terrified of him. Kenpachi himself was smirking, once again happy with the impression he gave people. "What the hell have you done to these people?" Keiko growled, quickly turning around to stare at Kenpachi. When he only smiled and shrugged innocently, she rolled her eyes: "You know what, forget it, I'm sure I can figured it out myself." Sighing and turning back around, she made sure to catch everyone's gaze as she spoke: "I know how much of a pain in the ass he can be," she pointed behind her at Kenpachi, "but I promise to keep him out of trouble. It's one of the many things I have to do while I'm here anyway."

After a bit more of conversation, it was agreed to bring the three new Shinigamis to Urahara's shop to get their gigais, which was, in and of itself, fairly comical because all three of them wound up wearing almost all black clothing. As it had grown late, and the lot of them claimed they had school the next day, the newest arrivals followed Inoue-san to her home.

Keiko bade the younger girl goodnight, thanking her profusely before slipping into the room she would share with Shuuhei and Kenpachi. Or.. maybe just Shuuhei, because Kenpachi was already missing. "Where the -fuck- did he go already?" Keiko sighed, pulling her hair down and shaking the short locks out.

"Up on the roof," Shuuhei replied, flopping down into a chair. "He really doesn't seem very happy to be here. Why'd he come anyway?"

"Few reasons," Keiko sighed, lying down on the couch in the room. "I brought him here to continue his training. He won't exactly progress while I'm off on a mission, so," she shrugged. The other reason... Well, now was a time as good as any to explain to Shuuhei about the seals. And besides, she knew Kenpachi was listening to their conversation, what with the window being wide open. "Remember when I told you that I disappeared because of the Onmitsukido?" she turned her head to look at him and saw him nod, his eyes focused on hers. "Well, there's more to it than that. I came down with a, uhh.. condition, so to speak. Have you ever heard of Chishio no Rouzeki?"

"It sounds familiar, but, I don't know."

"In simple terms, there's something wrong with my blood." Sitting up, she unzipped her hoodie and slipped it off before turning around so her back faced Shuuhei. She then pulled her shirt up in the back so he could see some of the tattoos on her back. "Seals," she started to explain, staring at the back of the couch now in front of her. "They were put in place decades ago by Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou himself because of the problem. There's something in my blood that, if triggered, causes me to lose my humanity. I basically go insane.. become an animal.. and I'll wind up killing everything and anything near me. It's not a pretty sight, but, these seals will prevent that from happening. It's why I brought Kenpachi with us - he'll know what to do if something happens to the seals."

Sighing softly, she started to pull her shirt back down, but was stopped by Shuuhei. He had slipped off his chair and knelt on the floor behind her, and reaching up, he kept the shirt up with one hand, the other, he reached out to trace one of the tattoos.

With a wince and a gasp, Keiko bit her lip. "Careful.. they're immensely sensitive right now.. they were redone yesterday. And why aren't you surprised by this?"

"Why should I be?" he shrugged, leaning back on his haunches. "You disappear, come back out of the blue, and now I find out something weird about you? I've learned not to be surprised around you anymore."

Keiko chuckled softly. "I guess you're right."

"I know I am," he responded before leaning forward and lightly pressing his lips against her skin, right over one of the ends of the tattoos. Following the intricate design the tattoos made, he lead a trail of light kisses along the red ink. Keiko gasped again, but this time, not from pain. His lips and breath were cold against her back, and it was unusually soothing. After a while, Shuuhei let her shirt fall down, and he sat up to curl his arms around her waist and pull her back, carefully, into him.

"It's later," he murmured in her ear.

"Now isn't the best of times," she replied quietly, well aware he was referring to what she had said to him yesterday.

"Why?"

Loosening his grip on her waist, she turned around so she could face him and rested her arms on his shoulders. With her chin, she motioned towards the open window, then looked up, referring to Kenpachi. "Not only are we on a mission, but we're in someone else's house, and it would be terribly rude."

Shuuhei eyed the window and nodded. "What, talking is rude?" he turned back to grin up at her, resting his hands on her hips.

With a light laugh and a roll of her eyes, she shook her head. "No, it's what the talking could lead to that's rude. I'm not stupid, you know," she smiled, poking his nose.

Shuuhei quickly tilted his head up to kiss the finger she had used to poke his nose. "Well can you at least answer one question?" She nodded. He moved his face closer so he could whisper: "Was I wrong for kissing you yesterday?"

"Do you really need to ask that?"

"Hey, it's nice to hear it verbally."

She rolled her eyes again, but leaned forward to press her forehead into his. "I could go into a long tirade about -why- it was wrong, focusing on the fact that you're my lieutenant, and I'm your Captain, but no, you weren't wrong." She kept her voice low, because, honestly, she didn't exactly want Kenpachi hearing anything. "But, anyway, you should probably get some sleep. I'm going to head up to the roof and talk to Kenpachi real quick before I turn in. We have a lot to do tomorrow."

* * *

The moment he could, Kenpachi got away from everyone, quickly making his way to the roof. Sure, a large man sitting on a rooftop in the middle of the night might be a weird thing, and it might draw attention, but that was just too fucking bad. He could be alone with his thoughts up on the roof. And one of his first thoughts was sake. He was pretty sure that orange-haired chick didn't have any, so he would have to make an effort to go out and get some tomorrow... Or maybe he'd get Keiko to do that.

One of the reasons Kenpachi hated going to the real world was because he always got weird looks from people, and since he couldn't just reach out and hit them, he had to keep his anger and spiteful comments bottled up. He honestly wanted to stay as far away from people as he could, but, since there was always the possibility of being forced to be near people, to keep the comments at a minimum, he had made sure to get rid of the bells in his hair and let his normally gravity-defying locks fall weakly about his shoulders, just as he had left it before he had become a Captain.

His thoughts, as usual, were interrupted, this time by the voices of Keiko and 69 floating out from the window below him. While Keiko spoke, Kenpachi remained silent and immobile, finally hearing what it was those seals actually kept under lock. Chishio no Rouzeki.. he had heard of that before, but he had never actually seen a person when controlled by it. From what he had heard, it was a fairly gruesome thing, and if a person was so far gone under the effects of it, the only way to stop them was to kill them.

The more Kenpachi found out about Keiko, the more he grew to respect her. That didn't, of course, mean that he wouldn't get pissed off when she'd make some comment to him or hit him when he wasn't concentrating during his training sessions. And he had vowed, long ago, that once he learned his bankai, he would let loose and make sure she was paid back for all those smacks and smart-ass remarks.

"Hellooo?" Keiko waved her hand in front of his face.

Slightly startled, Kenpachi's head snapped back a bit as he blinked. "What?" he looked up at her.

She sat down on the roof beside him, looking up at the stars. "You gonna' stay out here all night, or what?"

He grunted in reply. Sharing a room with Keiko and 69 wasn't very appetizing to the big man. He had seen how the tattoo-face had fawned over her the last time Kenpachi brought Keiko's passed out ass back to her Squad. He might, however, take a nap in the kitchen or some other empty room later on.

Leaning back on her palms, she glanced at him from the corners of her eyes. "Why do you hate coming to the real world so much?"

Sigh. Was this going to be 20 questions or something? Kenpachi really wasn't in the mood to answer anything at the moment, but, he was beginning to learn who Keiko was, and he had learned that she'd only just push the question until he got pissed off enough to answer her. "I don't like people."

Snorting, she let her back fall against the roof and folded her arms under her head. "It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Why, though? You seem more pissy and angsty than normal."

He turned to glare down at her. "These -people- can't accept things that are different from them. They comment, point and laugh. Of course I really don't give two fucks about the whole fitting in thing, but when I can't lash out and shut their mouths for them, it can get really bothersome. I don't do well when I'm pissed off and have no outlet to vent the anger."

Keiko nodded, her eyes trailing up to gaze at the stars again. "Well, it's up to you, then. Shuuhei and I are going to head out and start investigating in the morning. You can either come with, or just stick around here and keep trying to communicate with your zanpakuto. Though if a Hollow shows up, I'll be sure to let you know so you can take your anger out on it."

He actually laughed at that.

"But if you -do- decide to stay here, make sure you don't wreck Inoue-san's house. She denies it, but I know she's stressed and somewhat put out by having to let three people she doesn't know live in her house for who knows how long."

"I wouldn't -dream- of it," he rolled his eye. Honestly, Kenpachi would probably stay put unless a Hollow showed up. In a way, it would be nice to be alone. Sure, he could be alone whenever he wanted in Seireitei, because people knew when to leave him the fuck alone, but here in the real world, he didn't really have any obligations.

Silence encased the two Captains as they regarded the night time sky, and after a while, Kenpachi found a question bugging him. "What am I supposed ta' do if the seals break?"

Smiling weakly, Keiko looked up at him. "Kill me."

"You don't exactly seem very upset by that."

She shook her head with a sigh. "I have never been afraid to die. Truthfully, I thought things would be easier for everyone if I -were- dead. Once, a long time ago, I had actually thought about killing myself, just to make it all go away, but then I realized, I would do more good if I were alive. Take now for example. I'm trying to help you learn your zanpakuto's name. Not only that, but my Squad is happy to have a Captain again. If I were dead, I wouldn't be able to make a difference. But, if things go wrong and I lose myself, I know I -need- to be killed. That notion does not frighten me, because I know some day it might just happen. And honestly, you are probably the only person who would be able to do it."

"Why, because I don't care?"

"No, because you are strong enough to stand up to me."

This woman, this fighter, continually surprised Kenpachi with nearly every word she spoke. "Well, ya' better make sure I learn my bankai before you have to up and die. I want that rematch."

Laughing, Keiko returned her gaze to the sky above and silence once more settled between the two.

* * *

**Chishio no Rouzeki** - riot of blood

Yes, yes, I admit it, I stole this from the _King of Fighters_ series, the concept, and the name (The Riot of the Blood being the actual name of the condition). I'm so naughty, but this is one of the things from the RP I wanted to keep in the story.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos._


	12. Chapter 12

The day after their arrival, Keiko and Shuuhei woke up shortly after Inoue-san, and, leaving Shuuhei to get changed, Keiko made her way downstairs to find the younger woman running around the kitchen making food. Despite the fact the room looked like pure chaos, food and ingredients all over the kitchen, spills and messes almost every where one looked, the girl appeared quite happy.

"Inoue-san! What are you doing? Do you need help?" Keiko stared at her, quite amazed by the girl's speed and, contrary to the what the room suggested, grace as she ran around the kitchen.

"Nope! Sit, sit! I'm almost done!" she smiled over her shoulder before quickly turning back to whatever it was she was working on.

Blinking a few times, Keiko took a seat at the table, which was the only thing in the room not messy, and set for four people. "You really don't need to do this for us, Inoue-san," Keiko spoke up, actually feeling bad.

"Don't be silly!" she called over her shoulder before turning around. The speed and hyperactivity seemed to leave her face for a moment as her eyes fell on the Captain. "I don't mind it. I haven't been able to cook for people in a long time, and it's nice to have a full house again. Besides! I've come up with a lot of yummy dishes since Matsumoto-san left! I want your opinion!" With that, she quickly turned back to the stove.

Keiko nearly fell out of her seat when Shuuhei slipped behind her and bent down to whisper in her ear: "Matsumoto loves her food, but Hitsugaya-taichou couldn't eat it, it's so bad."

Turning around and dropping her voice to a whisper, Keiko replied: "Then -act- like you enjoy it, even if it's nasty. This girl is too sweet, and she's doing us a -huge- favor, so I don't want her being upset because of something so trivial."

"Ne, Akuuno-san, Hisagi-san, are you two together?" Inoue-san spoke up from the stove, staring at the Captain and lieutenant.

At the same time, Keiko responded with a 'no' while Shuuhei said 'yes'. Keiko quickly turned to glare at her lieutenant, but he only grinned at her. Rolling her eyes, she sighed, but smiled none-the-less. "I'll go get Kenpachi, then. I think he's been up on the roof all night."

"Don't bother," Kenpachi replied, bending his head as he entered the kitchen so he didn't smack it into the door jam. "I'm not going to eat you, woman, so stop worrying."

Keiko looked towards Inoue-san to find her staring at Kenpachi, then looked back at Kenpachi who was grinning at the orange-haired girl as he sat down at the table. With a scowl, she hit Kenpachi's shoulder. "Don't be so rude."

"What?" he snapped, looking down at her. "Just telling her the truth."

"Ugh, whatever," Keiko rolled her eyes.

Inoue-san promptly made her way around the table, shoveling various types of food onto everyone's plates before sitting down at her own place. "Let's eat!"

For a few moments, Keiko stared down at her plate. It -looked- alright... Inwardly shrugging, she leaned forward to take a bite. It was.. nasty. But, she was a Captain! She had to learn to control her emotions as well as what emotions her face gave off! Although, it was fairly hard this time... The combination of flavors was almost nauseating. Glancing up, she saw Inoue-san staring at her in anticipation, her eyes sparkling with hope. Keiko swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled (although it was -really- hard to force that smile). "Not bad." With a look of triumph on her face, Inoue-san bent over her own plate to eat.

Keiko reached out to grab a drink of what she -hoped- was juice, and downed the entire thing before glancing to Shuuhei and Kenpachi. Shuuhei seemed to be having the same problem, by the very slow way he ate, but Kenpachi... looked like he was enjoying the food. Brow furrowing, Keiko stared at the big man for a moment. He ate the food fairly quickly with no bitching, and when his plate was empty, he actually held it out to Inoue-san and asked for more. Eyes wide in surprise, Keiko quickly turned to look at Shuuhei who gave her the exact same look.

Once breakfast was basically over, Shuuhei and Keiko claiming that they were full and didn't eat a lot (considering more than half of the food was left on their plates), Inoue-san smiled and cleared the table.

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed quickly turning around to face the three Shinigami. "I made myself lunch, but I didn't make you three anything!"

"Don't worry about it!" Keiko replied, probably a bit too quickly, but it seemed the younger girl didn't notice. "You've done so much for us already, Inoue-san. Besides, Shuuhei and I need to start our investigation shortly, so we'll just grab something to eat when we feel hungry."

"You're not going to school?" she looked at Keiko quizzically.

"What?"

"When things generally happen around here, Shinigami generally wind up going to the Substitute Shinigami's school to watch out for him. Matsumoto, Hitsugaya-taichou and a few 11th Squad members have done that in the past," Shuuhei explained.

"Why..?" Keiko looked incredulous. That.. just didn't make sense to her. Shuuhei just shrugged. "Uhh, well, uh, no," she started, turning back to Inoue-san. "We're not going to go to your school, actually. We will, however, be waiting there once you and everyone else get out so you can show us the places Hollow have been appearing."

That seemed to appeal to the girl as she smiled brightly. "Okay! Well, bye-bye for now!" she spoke quickly before literally launching herself out of the kitchen and house.

Keiko stared down at the smoke trail, letting out a low whistle. "Anyway, you decide whether or not you'll be coming with us, Kenpachi?" she asked, turning to look at the big man, but he was already gone. "How the -hell- does he disappear so quietly for someone his size?!"

"Don't know," Shuuhei replied, getting up from the table and moving behind Keiko to wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her back into him, carefully avoiding her back as best he could. "But at least it gives us some alone time," he grinned.

Rolling her eyes, Keiko smacked his arms, but didn't pull away. "We have work to do, you."

The two Shinigami left Inoue-san's house and first made their way back to the park they had first shown up at. Before they had gone to Urahara's shop the previous night, Kuchiki-san had pointed out that that park was one of the hot spots. Other than that, until the others were finished with school, it was the only place they had a clue about.

"I don't get it," Keiko murmured, fiddling around with her cell GPS locator. "We've been in the living world for hours and not a single Hollow has shown up. Yamamoto-soutaichou made it sound as though Hollows were around almost constantly."

"Do you even know how to use that?"

Blinking, she looked up at Shuuhei. "Yes!" she retorted and quickly looked back down at the screen, fiddling with the gadget again. No... she really didn't know what she was doing. With a sigh, she shoved the item into Shuuheis waiting hand. "I'm a Captain. I lead a squad of 400 Shinigami. I know them all by name. I crossed blades with Zaraki Kenpachi and lived. Yet, I can't use that.. that.. -thing-!" she pointed at the phone that Shuuhei was messing around with.

"I think you broke it," he commented.

"What?! I did not!" she yelled, forcing his hands down to she could see the screen.

"Kidding," he laughed.

"Ohh, you!" she growled, smacking his arm. "Anyway, you find anything?"

He shook his head. "No, nothing."

With a sigh, she looked around the park and shrugged. "I guess we'll just wander around until they get out of school or something. They didn't exactly mention any other place but here."

Without anything else to go off of, they did just that, Kieko picking a direction and Shuuhei following her, every so often checking the screen. For hours, they walked all over Karakura, but not once did the phone find some thing.

Stopping in another park on the opposite side of town, Keiko sighed and plopped down onto the bench. "This just makes no sense. We should have been able to find something by now, even something small and insignificant."

Shuuhei snapped the phone shut and sat down beside her. "Don't know what to say. I guess we just wait for them, or wait for a Hollow to show up."

Keiko nodded and leaned into him, a hand snaking out to grab the phone from him. She started to play around with the thing, repressing a smile when he draped an arm over her shoulders. "You should probably show me how to use this thing," she commented.

"Mm, maybe later," he replied, leaning back to get comfortable and pulling her closer. "I feel useful knowing how to use that."

"'eh? What do you mean?" she asked, moving her head to look up at him.

"Well, you and Kenpachi are here, two of the strongest Shinigami. Knowing how to use that thing makes me feel like the brains of the group," he grinned.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?" he looked down at her, surprised by the grief on her face.

"I feel like I'm just casting a shadow over you. I mean, I showed up out of no where and became your Captain, pretty much taking everything away from you. Everyone looked up to you when you took up all the responsibilities of a Captain, but now it's like you've faded into my shadow."

Shuuhei shook his head. "How can this worry-filled girl be the one who brought Kenpachi to a draw? You worry too much. I never -wanted- all the responsibilities of Captain, but the Squad needed someone to look up to, so I picked up the mantle. I was thoroughly relieved to hear I was getting a Captain, that I wouldn't have to do so much anymore. I'm -happy- to be so.. so.. lazy anymore."

"Really?"

"Yes," he smiled, reaching out to flick her nose. "It's nice having so little work to do. But at least I can do something while we're here to investigate." For effect, he took the phone from her and slipped it into his pocket. "Now, what do you say we go get something to eat. I'm hungry."

"In a minute," she murmured, settling down against his side, smiling when she felt his arm tighten again.

* * *

Since neither Keiko nor Shuuhei could think of what else they could do in the meantime, after getting something to eat, they continued to wander around Karakura, trying to find some sort of clue. But nothing showed up. The phone did nothing more than to piss Keiko off (as she was beginning to think she -had- broken it), and since there was nothing better to do, she suggested they might as well go wait for Kuchiki-san and the rest of the group to get out of school.

"Maybe I really -did- break it," Keiko murmured, leaning forward to look at the screen.

"I doubt it. All you did was hit a bunch of different buttons. I don't think this thing is -that- sensitive."

Shrugging, she turned to look towards the school entrance, and, finally seeing people begin to exit the building, she turned back to Shuuhei. "I guess they're getting out soon. A bunch of kids are starting to leave."

"Still -nothing-," Shuuhei muttered, snapping the phone shut and slipping it back into his pocket. With a sigh, he leaned into the lamp post behind him, his arms folding behind his head. Immediately, his eyes came to rest on a group of girls who were whispering among themselves, giggling and every so often pointing towards him. "Why do you think they're doing that?"

Keiko waved as Kuchiki-san and company finally exited their school and came to a stop with the Captain and lieutenant. Rolling her eyes, she turned to look at Shuuhei. "You have 69 tattooed on your face. What do you -think- they're laughing at?"

"Actually, they were commenting on how you two look good together," the Substitute Shinigami spoke up, smirking. "Anyway, come on, we'll show you a few of the places we've been having trouble with." Not waiting for a conversation, he took off down one of the streets leaving Keiko to quietly say "Oh" and Shuuhei to grin smugly. Quickly shaking off the comment, despite the grin remaining on Shuuhei's face, Keiko turned to walk beside Ichigo.

While in the Onmitsukido, she, as well as her comrades, had learned much about this Substitute Shinigami as well as his friends, about how Inoue-san and Sado-san had gained their powers because of Ichigo's own abundance of power. The whole ordeal was messy, and it broke plenty of Soul Society rules, but Keiko could see how the boy was really innocent in the whole thing. She was one the few Onmitsukido members that actually didn't look down on him for it. The Quincy, though. Well, that was another story, and honestly, as there wasn't much information to be shared, she didn't really care much about him because his aura certainly didn't hold any hidden hatred for anyone in his current company.

"So, what exactly has the problem been? Yamamoto-soutaichou made it sound like there was an unusual amount of Hollow just showing up everywhere all the time," Keiko watched Ichigo from the corner of her eye. "Shuuhei and I have been all over town and haven't found a single Hollow nor a slight disturbance."

"Well, that's not exactly it," he shook his head. "It's almost like.. planned attacks."

Kuchiki-san took the moment to slip in between Ichigo and Keiko and shove the orange-haired boy out of the way. "What he means to say is," she started, ignoring the fact that Ichigo was now behind her, growling threats and shaking his fist at her, "that at any given time, a large amount of Hollow, anywhere from 30 to 50, will randomly show up all over Karakura at exactly the same time. Normally such a large number of Hollow isn't that big of a deal to us, but we've been worried that we might not be able to get around quick enough and get rid of all the Hollow in time..."

Keiko stared at the ground, digesting this information. In time.. She must mean before one of the Hollow could prey on a soul. "Has there been anything else out of the ordinary? I mean, does it seem like they're planning to do something?"

"We don't know," Kuchiki-san shook her head.

Honestly, Keiko was now glad that she had brought Kenpachi along. Sure, she was a Captain and she had two lieutenants with her now, and getting rid of a Hollow was, for the most part, child's play. But even those facts aside, there was still the possibility they might not be able to get rid of such a large number, so spread out, quick enough. She would take all the help she could get. And she was sure Kenpachi wouldn't mind.

"Any specific time they show up? Any general patterns?"

It was the Quincy who spoke up: "The time of day has been different every time, ranging from late at night, middle of the day and early in the morning. As for patterns, I haven't been able to detect any. There are a few places, such as the parks, where a Hollow almost always shows up, but otherwise, the location is almost always different."

Keiko nodded. "Well, it almost seems like we won't be able to do much of anything until something actually happens."

Although that was the general consensus, she still insisted on checking out the few parks that the Quincy had mentioned. To no surprise on her own part, every place Ichigo pointed out was a place she and Shuuhei had visited at some point during the day.

"Ugh, we're getting no where," Keiko groaned, massaging the bridge of her nose. Letting out a long, frustrated sigh, she glanced around at everyone. "Honestly, there's nothing more we can do tonight, so you might as well all go home and rest. Generally, I'd advise you to not even bother helping out because you're not Shinigami," she glanced at Inoue-san, Sado-san and the Quincy, "but I'll want as much help as possible to make sure no souls get hurt."

Agreements were made, good nights were spoken, and the group eventually broke up to return to their respective homes.

* * *

Part of me really, really wants to go more into Keiko and Shuuhei's relationship, because the more I write about them, the more "squee" I get. It's one of the many things in this story that's just -there- because it can be, just like Rukia getting the comb from her brother and being all "eeee!" But, 'eh, we'll see what happens.

I also feel bad because there isn't much I can do with Kenpachi right now. He's basically lounging around Orihime's trying to communicate with his zanpakuto. How thrilling. Yeah, maybe he can go out to get his sake, cause some trouble, but I already established (in the previous chapter) that the chances of that happening are RARE. Such a conundrum.. Oh, well, the next chapter is where Kenpachi gets to shine! Progress being made? Yep!

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos._


	13. Chapter 13

As I said last Chapter - Kenpachi's finally making progress! I'm quite happy with this Chapter, more specifically, closer to the end of the Chapter, and for those of you Kenpachi fans who have waited for -something- to happen to the big man, well, it's time.

* * *

It was Keiko's turn to be frustrated. She and Shuuhei had spent nearly the entire day trying to find something relevant to the Hollow occurrences, but there was nothing. Even after hearing the whole story from Ichigo and Kuchiki-san, and after checking out the few places that Hollows appeared more than once, there was still nothing she could find. Not only was she a Captain of the Gotei 13, but she had been a high ranking officer of the Onmitsukido. She should be able to find -something-! But because she couldn't, she was beginning to feel useless because of the lack of progress.

Everything combined, she hadn't spent any time with Kenpachi, trying to further his training, and, honestly, it was currently the last thing in her mind. Instead, she wound up sitting on the floor over bunches of papers, on which she had written notes, as well as various maps of the Karakura area. For hours, she poured over them, internally hitting herself, trying to find something, some little clue, some tiny connection. She had become so focused on the papers that she didn't even notice the night had passed, and she had not slept a wink.

Shuuhei, having fallen asleep on the couch behind her, woke shortly after sunrise. Dark eyes falling on Keiko's back, he quietly sighed and shook his head. Stubborn to the point of hurting herself. It was not an overstatement. "Kei, you haven't slept at all, have you?" he spoke up, folding an arm under his head.

"There's got to be a connection!" was her only response. Apparently, that was a 'no.'

Once the effects of sleep left his body, the lieutenant slowly sat up and stretched. If she kept this up, she'd do more harm than good. That in mind, he stood up from the couch and stared down at her, his arms crossing over his chest. "Get up."

"Huh?" She craned her head back to look up at him.

"I said, get up."

"I can't! There's something in these papers that I'm not seeing!" she exclaimed, turning back to the mess on the floor before her. "If I leave now, there's no telling how far I'll put the investigation back!"

It was like they were back in the Academy, training for their Shinigami exams. There had been a few times Keiko would fail a test or project or the like and right after, she'd pour herself into the subject until she knew it back and forth so that she'd never fail it again. Shuuhei had -not- enjoyed those times. She would become obsessive, stoic, eventually just downright pissy to the point she'd rip off someone's head if they interrupted her. "You'll thank me for this later," he muttered before leaning down and scooping the smaller woman into his arms. Ignoring her cries and yells of protest, he carried her into the adjoining bathroom where he promptly dropped her into the shower and turned the water on, letting the freezing cold water of the unused pipes pour over her. Arms folding over his chest again, he merely looked down at her, a bland expression on his face as he watched her sputter and slip about, trying to get up and yell at him at the same time.

"HISAGI!" she yelled, struggling to get up. "Let me OUT of here!"

Rather than reply, he just continued to watch her, just continued to let the water freeze away her idiocy. Eventually, she calmed down, and stayed on the floor of the shower, glaring up at him and panting from a combination of the cold and the quick exertions she had put on her body trying to get up and out. "Do I have to remind you of what you were like after exams?" he asked quietly.

It was like a slap to the face because the glare was instantly gone and her facial features softened. "No," she muttered, her eyes trailing down to look at the floor.

"I thought not." Reaching out, he turned the water off before squatting down so he was closer to her height. "You've been obsessing over those papers for hours. Trust me, you're not missing anything. Now, I suggest you get up, get changed and get something to eat, because your going to be exhausted from not sleeping. Agreed?" She nodded, but refused to meet his gaze. His own expression softening, he stood back up and offered her his hand, which she eventually took to help get her out of the shower.

"I'll be downstairs. Hopefully I can get into the kitchen to make breakfast before Inoue does."

Once Shuuhei was out of the bathroom, Keiko wrung her hair out and left the bathroom to change into dry clothes, peeling her wet shirt off in the process.

"Oh? I get ta' see some assets before 69, huh?" Kenpachi's voice floated in from the window.

Just as she was about to drop the shirt to the floor, Keiko screamed and dashed back into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her. "What are you doing?! PERVERT!" she yelled through the door.

"Hey, I'm not tha one getting changed in front of an open window for all the world ta' see," he snorted, lips curled back into a grin.

"Whatever," she growled, rummaging through the bathroom for a towel. Once she found it, she curled it tightly around her, making sure her chest was completely covered, and exited the bathroom again. "I swear, you did that on purpose!" she accused him, quickly making her way across the room to get dry clothing.

"Right. Because I just knew you were about to take yer shirt off and flash everyone." Shaking his head, he sat in the window, watching her move about.

"I don't know how, but I know you did! You're a guy! Guys always think about shit like that!" she kept accusing him as she dashed, once again, back into the bathroom to change.

"Yeah, we all have psychic attunements that let us know when chicks are gonna flaunt their racks in front of us. Speaking of which, do you always get changed with the windows wide open? If so, I think I'll stop by yer Squad more often."

"PIG!" she yelled as she came out of the bathroom, throwing a ball of her wet clothing directly at him.

"That's more like it," he grinned, swatting her clothes away and slipping down from the window. "Your aura was starting to really piss me off. What's with all the bitching, moaning and feeling bad for yourself about?" he asked, glancing down at the piles of paper on the floor, pushing a few around with his foot. "Don't need you going all pussy on me before I have my rematch. I'd much rather fight a warrior rather than an angsty teenager."

Keiko would have thrown something else at him, but he had already left the room. Fuming quietly because she swore it was "Pick On Keiko Day", she grabbed her hair ties and pulled her hair back up before following Kenpachi into the kitchen where, thankfully, Shuuhei was at the stove cooking. Breakfast was quickly made and eaten, and Inoue-san left for class once again leaving the three Shinigami in her home.

"I'm going to head out and do some shopping for Inoue since we've eaten through more than half her food," Shuuhei spoke, getting up from the table. "You," he pointed at Keiko, "are going to stay here and do whatever it is you need to do with Kenpachi for his training or whatever. If I find out you've been pouring over those papers again, I won't think twice about dumping ice down your back." With a smirk, Shuuhei left.

"Swear," Keiko murmured, staring after him, "he sounds more like a Captain than the two of us combined."

"You -told- him?!"

Quickly turning around, Keiko stared at the now angry Kenpachi. "Not exactly... He tricked me! Besides, it's not like he cares or will say anything about it to anyone!" Snorting, Kenpachi got up from the table and left the room, leaving Keiko to yell after him. "HEY! Where are you going?" With a growl, she got up from the table and followed him up the stairs. "Would you stop being so pissy! Like I said, he tricked me! And what do -you- care if he found out about your training? You're the great Zaraki Kenpachi!" she continued to yell, her arms waving around for emphasis. Kenpachi stopped so abruptly that Keiko literally smacked into his back and stumbled back a few steps.

"I'm not pissy," he grinned, turning around to look at her. "It's just -so- easy to get you wound up lately, how could I pass up tha opportunity?"

Muttering quietly, she rubbed her nose and sat down where she was, pointing to the floor beside her. "I'm just annoyed lately."

"Really? I could swear you've been PMSing 24/7."

"It's just this whole mission! None of it makes sense! On top of it, I haven't been able to find out -any-thing, and like everyone says, I probably won't find anything until the Hollows actually show up! I just feel like I'm missing something.."

"So just wait until some of the big baddies show up and do your information search shit then."

"But.. but.."

"But nothing. I'm sick and tired of your emo, pissy-ass moods lately. Are you not tha one who fought me, who didn't have tha smallest trace of -fear- when you did? Are you not a Captain? Are you not, at yer own expense, trying ta teach me how ta use a bankai? Fucking get with it, woman. The world does not revolve around you. Big fucking deal, you didn't find anything. Who says anyone else would have? Just suck it up and act your-fucking-self."

Truthfully, Keiko couldn't think of a come back for that because, well, it was the truth. She -had- been an emo little bitch lately, as Shuuhei had tried to show her by tossing her under the cold water. Although, for some reason, Kenpachi bitching her out as he just did seemed to have a heavier effect. "You're right," she inhaled deeply, then let it out in a short, heavy sigh. "You're right, you're right.."

"Good. Now can we get tha fuck on with my training? I've been bored outta my fucking skull since we got here."

"Yes, yes, we can."

"Oh, and stop holding back. Don't think I can't tell you've been afraid ta get that dinky little connection going. I mean, shit, pussy out of it if you want, yer the one hurting, not me. Although I -would- like to keep my training going, if ya don't mind."

She cracked a smile and nodded. He was right - she needed to get serious. Who knew Kenpachi could be so insightful sometimes? Maybe he -did- make a pretty good Captain.

"Alright," she started, flexing her arms and cracking her knuckles, "let's get this going." Once her muscles and body were calm, she reached out and pressed her hand into his chest (one of the things she had changed after things had backfired). Eyes closing, she quietly chanted a few words and focused on making a connection. There, the initial shock - a flood of images that would disturb even the most battle hungry of men. And, as an electric shock passed between her hand and his chest, the connection was made.

With a shudder, she opened her eyes to find their surroundings had changed. "Huh, guess he gives good pep talks," she offhandedly commented as she looked around. Standing up, she briefly stretched before tapping her foot against Kenpachi's leg. "Oi, get up."

"Not gonna' have some creepy-ass blood demon in my face if I do, will I?" he muttered, his eye remained closed.

"No, smart ass. I got it right this time."

The big man did as she said and stood up, eye opening to glance around. Nothing was red. "Uhh, if this is my inner soul and I'm here, why were you not there when I was in yours?"

"Must you continue to dwell on the past? I fucked up last time, give it a rest already," she muttered, the subject still quite store.

"And why are we wearing our Shinigami uniforms? Coulda' sworn I wasn't wearing this a moment ago," he glanced down at his hakama.

"That was your gigai. Here, we appear as what we really are."

Raising an eyebrow, he motioned to his hair as well as hers - both were down, rather than tied up in their respective styles.

Keiko just shrugged. "Dunno'. But who cares. We're here, so let's get started. Uhh... hmm." She turned around in a circle a few times trying to find some landmark, but, the place was fairly barren. "Ya'know. Considering the shit I see every time I enter your mind, I'm surprised this place is so... quiet." It was pretty empty, too. The ground was dry, patches of dead grass scattered all over. Despite no visible sun, it was light out, the sky a light blue and cloudless. No wind, no smell, nothing.

"Hey, at least I've got grass. Yer shit was just all red. Speaking of, you keep saying yer doing all this shit to enter my mind, yet this is my soul, so...?"

Chuckling softly, Keiko turned to face him. "I'm surprised you're asking so many questions. The great Zaraki, hungering for information." Although she was trying to be humorous, she was quite impressed; never had she thought Kenpachi was so insightful, that he would have so many questions, that he wanted to -learn-. He was much more intelligent than anyone gave him credit for. "Truthfully, the mind and soul are connected almost to the point they're one and the same. There are plenty of philosophical debates about them, but I just use the words interchangeably."

Apparently, the explanation was sufficient, because he just nodded and looked around. "Well, what now?"

Impatient. Surprise, surprise. Not bothering to reply, Keiko crouched down and pressed a hand into the ground. She couldn't feel anything - it was dead. "This is your world, you tell me," she stood back up, brushing her hands together to get rid of the dirt. Kenpachi stared at her. "Hey, I'm just your spirit guide."

"Whatever," he snorted, turning away from her to look around. "There," he nodded to a direction and started walking, Keiko following. They were walking towards a tree that had -not- been there a moment ago. It, like everything else, was dead. Walking right up to it, Kenachi pressed a palm against it and waited. Not wanting to interfere, Keiko stayed back a few feet, arms slipping into opposite sleeves of her haori.

**_"Why do you continue to try to contact me?"_** a voice, certainly masculine, resonated from the tree.

The sheer force, the sheer -power- emanating from the voice made Keiko's eyes water, and she gasped, falling to her knees. This power deserved respect. Kenpachi, however, kept his palm against the tree.

**_"For years, you ignored me, intruded on -my- power, convinced yourself that you did not need me, that I was not a part of you, and yet, here you stand -begging- me to admit you. Why?"_**

Keiko realized that she should not be there, that she should leave. But, if she did, the link would sever and Kenpachi might never get a second chance. Not knowing what else to do, she bowed her head low so that it nearly touched the ground.

_**"I have ignored your pleas, refused to communicate with you -because- of you. Why should I even speak with you after all these years that -you- have ignored -me-? The only reason I speak to you now is because I take pity on this soul, a soul both male and female, a soul so pure and yet so tainted."**_

Keiko knew this power was speaking of her.

_**"This soul pushes itself to the brink of extinction to help -you-, the ignorant one. You are -NOT- worthy of my power, not yet. Although, for your perseverance and courage, I will give you a gift, a sampling of what could have been yours decades ago."**_

For a few moments, there was silence, and Keiko wondered if she should look up.

_**"Little soul, so full of strife. I admire your strength and selflessness for helping the ignorant one, but know this: if you enter my sanctuary again, although I wish not to, I will take your light so that your cycle will end. This place is not for you."**_

With a gasp, Keiko looked up, tears now trickling down her cheeks. Her eyes came to focus on the tree, or rather, a shadow within the tree. Unable to speak, unable to find words, she nodded.

_**"Now leave this place. When you are worthy, you may return."**_

All the blood rushed to Keiko's head, and the next thing she knew, she was on her back staring up at Inoue-san's ceiling. Groaning softly, she sat up and the first thing her eyes fell on was Kenpachi. He was sitting on the floor with his zanpakuto in his hands. Eyes wide, Keiko gasped at what she saw: the blade of his zanpakuto looked as though it had been reforged. All the jagged edges were gone and the blade, which almost seemed to glow, looked brand new. Reaching up, Keiko pulled a strand of hair from her head and dropped it on the blade. The hair was sliced with ease.

* * *

What, thought he'd get his bankai so soon? Pfft.

**Kenpachi's Inner World**

I had thought about making it night time, with moon and stars, the whole shebang, but, the idea seemed too much like Hueco Mundo. Hrm. Also, the reason why I chose to write in Keiko's PoV was because I feel the reader might be able to get a better sense of the power and effects Kenpachi's zanpakuto has on others. What Keiko felt is, of course, not the same as what Kenpachi felt, but being the outsider, it's stronger.

**light / cycle**

Sticking with the concept of reincarnation here, the light refers to the soul, the cycle to the cycle of rebirth. Kenpachi's zanpakuto will basically extinguish her soul so that it is just -gone-.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people.  
Akuuno Keiko (c) me._


	14. Chapter 14

EDIT: The latter part of this chapter has been edited. Please see the opening of Chapter 15 for the reasons

So.. I've been having the wonderful disease of writer's block.. I still have a few more chapters pre-written, but, I -might- be slowing down on the updates, we'll see how things go.

* * *

Days had passed, and not only had Kenpachi become completely withdrawn, pretty much keeping to the roof 24/7, but not a single Hollow showed up. Keiko did her best to ignore the latter, constantly reminding herself of what Shuuhei and Kenpachi had told her, but she couldn't ignore the former. Well, she could, but, she felt like she needed to do something about it.

"Don't do anything," Shuuhei suggested, peering at her from the couch.

Keiko had closed the window when she told Shuuhei she wanted to talk. The lieutenant had gotten his hopes up until she had mentioned Kenpachi. "I probably can't, any way.." she sighed, leaning back against the couch, sitting on the floor. "I mean, he's so withdrawn that I can't even get a feel of him from his aura. I don't know whether he's upset, happy, or just concentrating -really- hard and trying to communicate with his zanpkauto by himself."

"If he doesn't want you knowing, then I'm sure he has his reasons. Just leave him be until he either approaches you or makes it evident he wants to talk. Although, he -is- Kenpachi, and I don't know how you'd figure that out," Shuuhei shrugged, closing his eyes and folding his arms under his head.

With a scowl, Keiko stood on her knees and turned around to poke Shuuhei's side until he opened his eyes. "Then what am I supposed to do? I'm going crazy between him and the fact not a single Hollow has shown up since we got here. I need to do -something- or I'll lose my mind!"

A grin spread out over his lips. "We could go out on a date."

"No," she frowned, hitting his chest before turning back around and sitting on the floor once again, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "Although I am tempted to go visit Ichigo and Kuchiki-san to see if they thought of anything new."

"You did that yesterday. And the day before, and the day before," Shuuhei yawned, reaching down and massaging her scalp with his fingers. "I'm sure when they think of something they'll be over here in a heartbeat. They're just as stumped as you."

Her eyes slipped shut and a noise, very similar to a purr, emitted from her throat.

"Honestly, do whatever you want. Once those Hollow show up, it'll solve both your problems. So, wait, and in the meantime do.. whatever."

"But I'm a Captain, one sent on a mission. I feel like I'm not doing my job."

"Do I have to dump ice down your shirt? You can't -do- anything until Hollow show up, so drop the subject before I throw you in the shower again."

"Yeah, yeah," Keiko rolled her eyes, settling her chin on her knees. Almost completely forgetting, or ignoring, what Shuuhei had just said, Keiko got up and moved towards the window. "I'm gonna' go check up on him."

"No!" Shuuhei growled, quickly snapping his arm out to grab the back of her shirt and pull her back to him. "You are going to leave him alone, you hear me?"

"But..!"

"No buts!" Getting up from the couch, he kept his hold on her shirt and started to drag her backwards out of the room. "We're going out, let's go."

"Shuuhei, no! I have to, damnit, you're gonna' rip this shirt!" she yelled over her shoulder as he continued to pull her out of the room.

* * *

If it were possible, the roof would have molded around Kenpachi's ass - he had not budged since the moment he and Keiko had returned from his inner world. Without a word, he headed straight for the roof, and, zanpakuto in hand, closed his eyes and just concentrated. He still didn't know how to return to his soul, but he was now convinced that if he waited long enough, he'd be able to do it on his own.

Meeting with his zanpakuto was the most... life-changing experience he had ever had, more so than first meeting Yachiru. He could feel the magnitude of its power just from being near it, and he -wanted- that power. But he knew he had to work, and he had to work hard - his zanpakuto made that clear. He also knew that his zanpakuto, whose name he still didn't know, was quite upset with Kenpachi for being so ignorant and stupid over the years, but it had spoken to Kenpachi, and that was why the big man wasn't deterred. Truthfully, Kenpachi could not put his current state of mind and emotions into words, but he knew he was different. One thing was for certain - he was determined.

Slowly becoming oblivious to everything around him, he remained relaxed, and continually tried to communicate with his zanpakuto.

* * *

"I like coffee.." Keiko commented, staring down at the cup in her hands.

Shuuhei chuckled softly, drinking his own cup of the dark brew. "It doesn't go well with lollipops, though."

The Captain merely rolled her eyes before taking another drink. "We should probably head over to Kuchiki-san's school. They'll be getting out soon."

"No."

"What? Why not?"

"Because."

"...Because is not a reason," she muttered, her eyes narrowing a bit as she looked at him over her cup. "Unless you give me an actual reason, I'm going to go myself if I have to."

"We have things to talk about," Shuuhei replied, leaning forward over the table they were currently sitting at outside a small cafe, his drink cupped between both hands.

"Such as...?"

"'Later', as you put it." A grin spread out over his lips.

"No. We are -not- talking about that."

"Why not? It's not like we have anything better to do right now. And besides, it's much, much, much later if you ask me."

"There is nothing to talk about," Keiko shrugged, now staring down at her drink, refusing to meet his gaze. Yeah. Right. Nothing to talk about. Like either of them was -really- that stupid. Of course she wanted to talk about it! She was a -woman- for shit's sake. Well, technically, first she was a Captain, then a Shinigami, and -then- a woman, at least that was the priority she put things. And, as always, being a Captain came before everything else. As a Captain, she knew this was a subject that should not be breached. As a Captain she knew there were rules against these sorts of things. As a Captain, she had to end the discussion right here and right now.

"Don't even try to pull that crap with me," he started, leaning back again. "Yeah, yeah, I know, you want to go on and on about how you're my Captain and I'm your lieutenant, blah, blah, blah, that's getting -old-, Kei. You do realize that, hm, maybe 75 percent of Shinigami are in a relationship? That -includes- Captains."

"But not with their lieutenants!" she finally looked up at him.

"Uhh, do I -really- need to point out Squad 8 to you?"

"And there are -rules- against these things!"

"Yeah, for the protection of Soul Society. I don't know if you've noticed yet, but both you and I are fairly smart individuals with intelligent heads on our shoulders. I highly doubt that if we were to start something that Seireitei would blow up."

"But, but.."

"No 'buts'. I don't see you wearing a Captain's jacket, nor do I see my lieutenant's insignia, so just shut up for a moment."

Abruptly, Keiko shut her mouth, fairly startled at Shuuhei's choice of words.

"I kissed you. -You- kissed me back. -You- said it wasn't wrong. -You- were pretty damned comfortable when I had my arm around you in the park. I mean, hell, people say we look -good- together!"

"I'm not shallow enough to care about -that-..." she muttered.

"Whatever, that's not the point. The point is, if any of those things bothered you, you would have said something long ago. Not only that, but it's not hard for me to tell you want it just as much as I do. Now. I'm going to kiss you again, and if you really, really, really don't want this, then do something about it." Despite the fact he was in his gigai, Shuuhei was fast. Within the blink of an eye, he was out of his chair and standing over her, his hands cupping her cheeks as his lips pressed into hers. Keiko, however, was much slower; it took a few seconds for her brain to register what was happening. And although she wanted so desperately to prove him wrong, she knew there was no way she could, because, let's face it, she wanted it.

Shuuhei pulled away, but kept his hands on her face, ignoring the various looks, stares and "awws" people were giving his public display of affection. "Now. Are you ready to admit I was right and stop beating around the bush?"

Half lidded eyes looked up at him, and Keiko found it hard to get her thoughts into speech. He really, really was a good kisser... "Uhh.. yeah. Yeah.." She cleared her throat, sat up a bit and blinked back the glaze on her eyes.

"That's better. Now, if you want, we can go wait for Rukia and Ichigo to get out of school." Letting go of her face and leaning back, he offered her his hand, which she took.

Shuuhei and Keiko left the small cafe, drinks in hand, and made their way towards Kuchiki-san's school, the air between them much clearer and happier. Because of their little trip for coffee, they didn't have to wait long for the others to get out, and when they did, Inoue-san hopped up to them. Literally.

"It's the weekend! And I hope you two don't mind, but I invited everyone over for snacks and movies!" she smiled, looked back and forth between the Captain and lieutenant.

Keiko couldn't help but laugh at her jubilation. "Why would -we- mind, Inoue-san? It's your house!"

"I know, but you're my guests! And I don't want to intrude on you!"

Shuuhei shook his head, but smiled. Keiko continued to laugh. "If you really want our okay, then of course you have it." Inoue-san was such a sweet girl, and Keiko hated to think it, but the girl would be taken advantage of for it...

"Then let's gooo!" she pointed in a direction, hooked her arm with Keiko's and started off in said direction, everyone else laughing and following. They went on a trip to the food store as well a a video rental store, picked up supplies and all returned to Inoue-san's house, Keiko, on the way, letting Ichigo know (to the Substitute Shinigami's relief) that Kenpachi wouldn't be joining them.

At the end of the first movie, everyone crammed on the couch and floor in Inoue-san's living room, Keiko got up from the couch, offering to get everyone refills on their drinks. But before she could move, she gasped and grasped her chest with both hands. "Hollow.." she whispered, staring out in front of her with wide eyes.

"What?" Kuchiki-san looked up at her. No one else had felt it.

"You don't -feel- that?" Keiko gasped, looking around at everyone, all of whom shook their heads. "Trust me. They're coming.. a lot of them.." Shaking her head, she leapt from her spot and ran upstairs.

"I don't know what she--" Ichigo was cut off when he finally felt it, the distinct spiritual energy patterns of a Hollow. Glancing around, he could see everyone else felt it too. The only two with the GPS phones, Kuchiki-san and Shuuhei quickly pulled them out, beeping heard as they pressed the buttons.

"There's a lot of them.." Shuuhei started.

"And they're all in one spot.." Kuchiki-san finished.

Running back down stairs, having been upstairs to apparently get rid of her gigai as she was now in her Shinigami uniform, zanpakuto at her back, Keiko paused before the door and stared at everyone. "What the hell are you all doing? Let's GO!"

Not being needed to be told twice, the rest of the Shinigami in the group left their gigais, Ichigo left his real body, and Inoue-san, Sado-san and the Quincy all ran forward with the group, quickly leaving the house.

"What about Kenpachi?" Shuuhei asked Keiko, running beside her at the front of the group.

"He must have already felt it, he wasn't on the roof," Keiko shook her head. "How spread out are they?"

"They aren't. They're -all- in the park where we first arrived."

"What?!" Keiko yelled, glancing at Shuuhei who only shrugged. "What the fuck is going on..." she shook her head again, disbelief across her face. After all the studying she had done, all the work she had tried to do, it was all completely useless now. No more patterns, apparently.

As the group neared the park, Keiko was the first to stop, and stop short she did as Ichigo ran face first into her back, groaning softly as he fell back a few steps to grab his nose. "You never said anything about the Hollow being Menos Grande.." she whispered, her eyes mesmerized by the picture before her. Perhaps a good 40 to 50 Menos Grande were within the park, a specific count almost impossible from how they swayed back and forth. But they weren't -doing- anything, they were just.. standing there.. swaying.

"There never -were- any!" Kuchiki-san replied, obviously quite as surprised and horrified as Keiko was. Such a large numbers of Gillian in one spot would disturb anyone.

"What took you people so long?" Kenpachi called out.

Rather than answer the question, Keiko looked up Kenpachi, who was standing in the air a good 10 feet above and to the left of her. "Are there any people around?" she called out, her hand reaching back and unsheathing her zanpakuto.

"Nope," Kenpachi shook his head, turning to look at the Gillian swarm, his zanpakuto resting against his shoulder.

Keiko nodded. Good, even if the rules certainly permitted her to use her shikai, even her bankai, she still didn't want any humans around to be influenced by her powers. "Inoue-san," she called out, not turning to meet the girls eyes, her's locked on the Menos. When the girl looked up, she continued: "I know you want to fight with everyone else, but you're our only healer. I need you to stay back."

"But!"

"Please. Don't aruge with me." Keiko didn't want to throw her rank around, but she would if she needed. Glancing at Shuuhei from the corner of her eye, he nodded and moved closer to the girl; he would make sure she stayed back. There were two Captains in the area anyway, it wasn't like he'd really be needed. Once cutting herself and calling for Chiakki to release itself, Keiko launched herself into the air to stand beside Kenpachi, momentarily glad that Kuchiki-san, Abarai-san and Ichigo were smart enough to wait for her to give orders. "This is all they've been doing?"

Kenpachi nodded. "Got here a good ten minutes before you people, and they haven't been doin' shit."

"None of this makes sense.." Keiko sighed, shaking her head. She wanted to find out what was causing the Gillian to act this way, wanted to just stand around and observe, but she was a Shinigami, and it was her duty to get rid of them before they hurt any soul. "You might get to see my bankai earlier than I thought you would," she grinned weakly before turning towards everyone else. "Spread out and do what you can!" she yelled. "I don't want anyone trying to play hero and get themselves or someone else hurt!"

Taking her own advice, Keiko dashed forward, bringing Chiakki back before leaping up and slashing the nearest Gillian straight across the mask. Apparently, it was a stupid move, because the moment the Gillian she attacked started to disappear, the rest of them reacted, balls of Cero forming at their mouths. "Ahh, shit.." she muttered, throwing her body to the side. "Watch it!" she yelled in warning, using shunpo to make it back to the ground. It was as though she had started some chain reaction because the Gillian simply started firing ball after ball of Cero, nonstop, in all different locations.

While dodging the Cero blasts, Keiko glanced around, noting how everyone else was progressing.

Kenpachi was, no surprise, holding his own and simply slicing down Gillian after Gillian, cackling in glee as he swung. He had never been a fast individual, but his strength was beyond normal comprehension and that coupled with his reforged blade made the task before him seem like child's play. Each swing, a Gillian disappeared and very rarely he would have to move to avoid a Cero blast.

It was the same for Abarai-san and Ichigo, both having released their bankai due to the simple fact that there were just -too- many Menos Grande to -not- take the precaution. They, like Kenpachi, were easily downing a Gillian with each swing. Ichigo used the speed he gained to his advantage, simply weaving in and out of Cero blasts, dashing in and taking out a Gillian before moving on to another. Abarai-san, though, was much slower for the kills. Each slash his bankai made certainly got rid of a Gillian, but the recovery time of the attack was much slower than Ichigo and even Kenpachi, probably, Keiko noted, because his bankai was so large.

Even slower were Sado-san and the Quincy - the two of them needed to work together just to bring one down, the same for Kuchiki-san.

There were no real problems of being overwhelmed, but with how erratic the Gillian were acting, there was no telling what would happen if they weren't dealt with -fast-. And although Keiko knew she could take care of the Gillian with just her shikai, she wanted them dead as quickly as possible. Leaping back into the air through use of shunpo, Keiko came to a stop some 15 feet up.

+"Ban..." she thrust her sword arm out to the right and Chiakki immediately reverted back to its normal katana-length. Kenpachi glanced up from the Gillian he had just killed, apparently feeling the sudden increase in Keiko's output of energy.

"kai!" she yelled, quickly turning the blade around and bringing it in front of her before grasping it in both hands and thrusting it through her stomach.

* * *

+ I'm very influenced by music, so at this point on, the song "Dogfight" from Initial D is what I was listening to while writing this because I feel it fits perfectly.

This chapter was getting to a decent length, so I figured I'd be mean and make everyone wait until the next chapter to see Keiko's bankai as well as the rest of the fight. Uwahaha.

**Shuuhei and Keiko**

Yep, fleshing them out even more. I have the bones of the story set out, but I don't want certain things occurring too fast, so, their relationship serves three purposes: a) filler, b) plot device, c) to feed my inner love for romance - in that order.

**Powers**

And, as this story is very AU, some parts from the anime there, some not, I want to briefly explain the power hierarchy of the group:

At the top, as they are Captains - Kenpachi and Keiko

Next - Ichigo

Followed by - Renji and Shuuhei

Then: Rukia

Followed by everyone else - Chad, Uryuu and Orihime

(A small reworking, of which I am happy with, and I hope everyone else is as well.)

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos_


	15. Chapter 15

To ObliviousWarrior89 - Well, I will admit I was not, at first, happy with how I did the hierarchy, but, I quickly put it off with a shrug because I wanted to just focus on Keiko and her bankai. Seeing as how this bothers at least one person (you, and I am thusly sure it bothers other people), I went back to re-write both the beginning of the fight as well as the hierarchy notes. Also, realize, I'm trying to focus the story around just Kenpachi and Keiko (with Shuuhei and Soifon up there as well) and it was fairly hard to incorporate all the others (Rukia, Renji, Ishida, Chad, Inoue, Ichigo) because it's just -so- many characters and thus, I have a tendency to just -ignore- them (the main reason I haven't had Chad say a -word- all through the fic). So, I hope you, as well as anyone else who was bothered by it, are a -bit- more happy with it. I know I am.

Though, I do, indeed, enjoy Ichigo being over-shadowed by Rukia and Keiko... those few parts with his fist-shaking shall remain, uwahaha!

* * *

There were two parts fighting inside Kenpachi at the moment: one wanted to just rip shit apart with his 'new' zanpakuto, the other, the part winning, wanted to see Keiko's bankai because he -knew- it would only fuel his determination in getting his own. So, when he felt the sudden surge of her power, he dealt with the Gillian in front of him before he backed off to watch Keiko.

"KEIKO!" Kenpachi heard 69 yell, and after seeing the woman impale herself with her zanpakuto, he could understand why he'd be so upset. So, -that's- what she meant by "bleed more."

His eye was literally glued to Keiko's form, watching her lurch forward once the blade protruded out of her back. But his vision was blurred when some sort of explosion detonated beneath her, a whirl of dirt and wind quickly building up and circling Keiko, hiding her form from sight. He might not have been able to see her, but he could -feel- the increase in her power, could -feel- the electricity in the air, and, just like when he first met her, his tongue moved out over his lips as he salivated over her raw power. He was, however, surprised and almost disturbed when the dust settled.

Where Keiko had been standing in midair was Chiakki, or rather, an inversion of Chiakki. When he had first seen her zanpakuto, it had been completely red with black chains and mask. Keiko, however, was completely black, her skin included, the chains and mask red, and the eye slits in the mask glowing red. Movement started to catch his eye, and immediately, he looked towards her shadow. Stepping back and away from Keiko, her shadow began to grow and take on a corporeal form. Within seconds, Chiakki took form from Keiko's shadow and stood behind and to Keiko's right. At least, Kenpachi -thought- it was Chiakki. It looked exactly like the thing he had seen, but, the aura, the maliciousness, the hate, none of it was there. He could, however, feel glee.

It was Kenpachi's turn to be mesmerized, because he could -not- take his eyes off Keiko and Chiakki, each holding the shikai form of her zanpakuto, Keiko's blade black and Chiakki's red. Immediately, the two dashed forward and split up to literally lay waste to the Gillian, each taking one out with a single slice of their blades. Not only were they fast, but they were powerful and Kenpachi shivered in delight as he watched, realizing that he was only seeing a fraction of her power, that Keiko's limiter was still in place. For a few moments, he cursed the limiter because at the moment, it was preventing him from seeing what Keiko and Chiakki could really do, the carnage they could cause.

Briefly, he glanced around towards everyone else, and saw that they too were just as mesmerized as he was, each of them forgetting that there was a swarm of Menos Grande right in front of their eyes. Weren't these people Shinigami? Kenpachi at least had a reason to be lazy and let Keiko do the work, but not these kids. "Hey, she may be doin' five times the work you little shits are, but yer Shinigami! Get to it, punks!" he yelled, mostly to the actual Shinigami, Ichigo included. He really didn't have a name for those other pansies, but, whatever, they got the idea, because they all shook themselves off before returning to the battle.

After returning his zanpakuto to its sheath, Kenpachi crossed his arms over his chest and let his eye settle on Keiko again, or Chiakki? Whatever, they were supposed to be one and the same. By releasing her bankai, Keiko had made sure that the Menos Grande were being taken care of in half the time it would have taken them if she hadn't, even without Kenpachi's help. Almost as quickly as it had began, the fight was over, to Kenpachi's dismay. He wanted to see more, wanted to feel more, but either way, one thing was for certain, after this, he would work his -ass- off to get his bankai...

Keiko returned to the ground, Chiakki right behind her, staying back and to the Captain's right, similar to the shadow it had taken form from. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed, faster than normal, her breaths sounding like hisses and gasps behind the mask. She tilted her head down, and Chiakki, apparently taking this as a cue, stepped behind Keiko and walked forward, melding into her body. When all evidence of the blood demon was gone, Keiko's shadow returned, her skin and haori faded to their normal white and the chains and mask disappeared. Shuuhei was at her side in an instant, and the Captain smiled, arm looping around his neck as she fell into his side, quite weak from using her bankai.

"What, not gonna pass out?" Kenpachi smirked, landing on the ground in front of her.

"If it'll make you feel better," Keiko rolled her eyes. She turned her head to look back and forth to Shuuhei and Inoue-san. "You two were the only ones not fighting. Did you happen to notice anything strange about the Menos, aside from when we first got here?" Apparently, she hadn't been paying attention to Kenpachi.

Inoue-san shook her head, as did Shuuhei, his arm firmly around her waist to keep her from falling over. "Nothing. The moment you killed the first one, they all seemed to go crazy, but that's it."

"Great," she sighed, shaking her head. "Probably nothing else we can do tonight, then. Might as well get back and rest," she spoke to everyone, ignoring Shuuhei's smirk and the 'I-told-you-so' look on his face. Yeah, yeah, she was beginning to see she couldn't force information to jump out at her if she stared long enough.

With Shuuhei's help, Keiko returned to Inoue-san's house, straight up to the room they were staying in, and flopped down on the couch with a sigh. "Can my job just get harder? Seriously.." she muttered, draping an arm over her face as she leaned back against the arm of the couch.

"A little warning would have been nice, you know," Shuuhei spoke up, sitting on the opposite arm of the couch.

"'eh?" Keiko peeked out from under her arm.

"Oh, I don't know, when you shoved your zanpakuto through your stomach? Speaking of.." Shuuhei slipped off the couch to stand over her. Pushing her haori out of the way, he slipped a hand into the folds of her shihakushou and started touching her stomach. Brow furrowing, he looked down at her. "There's no wound?"

"Oh my god, stop!" she squealed, writhing on the couch. Keiko was, apparently, ticklish. "Stop! No! There's no wound! You're tickling me!" she gasped, trying to force his hand away.

Removing his hand, he started to push the fabric around. "No wound... no blood... not even a rip in the fabric... It's like you never actually stabbed yourself. You want to explain that?"

"Yeah, like, is that what you meant by 'bleed more'?" Kenpachi spoke up, appearing at the window.

After catching her breath, Keiko sat up. "Yes, smart ass, that's what I meant," she replied, eyeing Kenpachi, surprised by his sudden appearance. "Already told you I have a blood pact with my zanpakuto - I bleed for its power. Well, to get my bankai to release, I have to prove to Chiakki that I'd be willing to give my life for its power."

"Was that really Chiakki?" Kenpachi asked. "Didn' feel tha anger 'n hate like last time."

Keiko nodded, leaning back against the couch. "When a Shinigami releases its bankai, he -controls- the bankai. Chiakki does -not- like to be controlled. Put it all together, I show it I'm willing to die to control its power, Chiakki feels I'm worthy and lets me control it. It still doesn't like it, but, it submits, hence it doesn't show all its negative emotion. Though I'm sure you could tell it was happy?" Kenpachi nodded. "The thrill of killing trumps the anger of being controlled."

"And why no evidence that you stabbed yourself?" Shuuhei spoke up, sitting back down on the couch.

"What is with you two?" Keiko laughed, looking back and forth between them. "So many questions! I doubt you'd ask Kuchiki-taichou or any other Captain about his bankai!"

"He doesn't try to kill himself to release his," Shuuhei countered.

"And his bankai isn't some blood crazed demon that rips peoples heads off for fun," Kenpachi finished.

Well, that was true. With a soft sigh, she shrugged: "I really don't know. I assume it's something Chiakki does. I always stab the same spot on my stomach to avoid any internal organs. If it -wasn't- healed, I'd bleed out and die. Chiakki knows it and knows that if I die, so does it. So, where would the fun be?" She turned to look towards Kenpachi, but he was already gone.

* * *

Kenpachi took his spot on the roof, still out of his gigai, and unsheathed his zanpakuto, holding it in one hand and letting the blunt edge of the blade rest against his shoulder. For a few moments, he ran a mental inventory of everything Keiko had told him to do: relax, get a clear image of his zanpakuto in his head, try and concentrate on it, try to visualize it taking some form.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized he had more than one reason for figuring out his zanpakuto's name. The first, as it had -been- the main reason, was that it meant a rematch with Keiko. Then there was the aspect of just -being- stronger. Recently, though, after having met his zanpakuto (maybe not exactly face to face), he had begun to feel the emptiness, feel the hole in his soul that needed to be filled. And then there was the one thing that his zanpakuto had told him: "You are not worthy." It was one of the biggest things that both confused Kenpachi as well as made him want to work harder. How could he not be worthy of his own soul, of a piece of himself? Didn't make sense, even though his zanpakuto had explained it to him.

Shaking the confusion from his mind, Kenpachi sighed and closed his eye, relaxing his body and his mind. He was slowly beginning to realize that there was no quick way for him to learn the name, that it would probably take him decades, just as it had taken most other Shinigami. In a way, it bothered the big man, because that would only mean years would pass where he would just have to wait. And, as everyone knew, Kenpachi was not a patient person. It was never one of his virtues, never needed to be, but, maybe... now it would have to be.

Opening his eye again, Kenpachi looked up at the stars and shook his head. He was going to have to change. It was a fact. If Zaraki Kenpachi wanted to learn his zanpakuto's name, if he wanted to be stronger, if he wanted to learn his bankai, if he wanted to fill that empty hole in his soul, he was going to have to change. Change was... not something he liked. How could a person change himself? A person is what a person is. How could he suddenly change things to change himself? The concept was unnerving. But, if he even overcame -that-.. well, that would show everyone that he was strong in more ways than just the physical. Yeah.. if he put it that way, he -liked- the concept of change. Adaptation, that was a better word. He grinned. Well, then, maybe -now- was a good time to start this.. adaptation. First, he would adapt to the world of the living.

Kenpachi sheathed his weapon before getting up and slipping through the window back into the room where Keiko and Shuuhei stayed. He paused once inside, his eye falling on the sleeping form of Keiko on the couch. For a few moments, he was sorely tempted to scare the crap out of her, to just clap his hands really loud or yell so that she woke up with a start. But, Kenpachi refrained. He respected the woman, and honestly enough, put her through plenty of other embarrassing and annoying shit. So, he behaved, and simply walked past her to return to his gigai. Before he could leave the room, though, he paused in the doorway when her voice reached his ears:

"Don't give up."

Raising an eyebrow, he turned back around to look at her. She was still on the couch, but her eyes were open. "Shouldn't you be sleepin? Don't need you passin out on us if more Hollow show up," he grinned.

"I've been trying to, but how am I supposed to sleep when your aura's been shooting in all different emotional directions?" she countered, sitting up, legs folding as she sat Indian-style.

"Well your -majesty- will be able to sleep since I'm going out fer a while," he snorted as he bowed low, an arm sweeping out mockingly.

Rather than reply, she stared at him, her lower eyelids raising up. Eventually, when Kenpachi was actually starting to feel unsettled by the way she was sizing him up, Keiko spoke up: "Don't give up. If I weren't terrified that your zanpakuto would literally kill me, I'd still be helping you. But despite that, I have complete faith in you. So do not give up."

For some reason, her words stung, not because he felt as though she were making fun of him, but because he had never realized, despite the physical danger she had put herself in, just how much she truly believed he could do it. Rather than let her actually see that, he pulled his aura tightly around himself before grinning: "I don't plan on it, woman. That rematch is the only thing I'm looking forward to." A lie. She knew it, but, oh well. With that, he turned and left.

Kenpachi's first step in his plan of adapting was to go out and get some sake, something he had needed to do since he first arrived in the world of the living. Sadly for him, though, he didn't realize the time, nor the fact that almost all stores were closed. After walking around for a good hour, his annoyance only increasing, he finally found a tiny little liquor shop that was open. After walking in to buy a few bottles of his beloved drink, he left to return to the healer-chick's house, actually quite relieved his anger had -not- been sparked by a smart ass comment from the shop owner. His first step was complete without incident, and once he was back on the roof, enjoying his sake, he realized that maybe adapting to things wasn't really that hard. Hopefully, everything else would be just as easy and, in the long run, it would help him learn his zanpakuto's name quicker.

* * *

**Liquor Shop**  
I have never been to Japan, and don't know nearly enough about it, so, as for a liquor store being open at like 2 in the morning or not, I don't know if that's something that's true, 'cuz around where I live, I -know- it's not. So.. just nod and smile like I'm currently doing.

So.. I know what I'm doing with the story, where I'm going next, what's going to happen next, etc, etc... but, like the previous chapter or two, I'm trying not to rush in to what it is I want to come next, so, this chapter is shorter than I had hoped, but, I'm fairly stuck on where to go with filler. /sigh. Oh, well, better short than pure and utter crap that I'm not happy with. Things are going to be getting much better starting the next chapter, so at least theres that.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people._

_Akuuno Keiko (c) me, General Junos_


	16. Chapter 16

"You know... I don't know whether to laugh or be completely and utterly freaked out," Keiko muttered, staring at another Menos Grande swarm as she stood between Shuuhei and Kenpachi.

"Neither do I, and it's probably too dangerous to let them sit there while we try to gather information," Shuuhei replied.

"Yeah, so, I'm standing here -not- kicking ass why?" Kenpachi stared at Keiko.

"Because we're still waiting for Kuchiki-san and Ichigo," Keiko replied, not taking her eyes off the Hollow. "The moment we attack one, I'm betting they'll all go crazy. Again."

Only moments ago had the three Shinigami felt the appearance of Hollow, and yet again, in the same exact park, another 40 to 50 Menos Grande stood in one spot, just swaying back and forth. Not long after, Sado-san, Inoue-san, Abarai-san and the Quincy had arrived, and now they only waited for the two missing Shinigami.

"And if they do go crazy again, I want them dead as quickly as possible."

Muttering something under his breath, Kenpachi rolled his eye and let his zanpakuto rest against his shoulder.

"They're here," Keiko spoke up after a moment, feeling both Ichigo's and Kuchiki-san's reiatsu patterns, and once Shuuhei and Kenpachi had moved away from her, she called for her bankai and impaled herself upon her zanpakuto. "Same as last night!" she called out to everyone, her voice raspy beneath the mask. "Kill quick and clean, no heroics! Inoue-san, do your best, but remain cautious!"

**'I get to kill now?'**

_Yes. Not slow and painful as you like, but quick._

**'Hmph. Why should I be quick? It is not nearly as fun.'**

_I could always force you back so you don't get to kill anything._

**'You are cruel, but I wish to kill. So be it. I shall be quick.'**

It always surprised Keiko how calm and collected Chiakki was when it spoke to her while released. It was nothing like the actual chaos of negative emotions she could always feel running rampage through her whenever Chiakki was still inside her. But then again, the demon did enjoy its freedom from Keiko's soul, however rare that occurred, even if it did mean being under Keiko's control.

As Chiakki was a part of Keiko, it always knew what Keiko was thinking, so when it was released, it would keep a lock on Keiko's mind and mirror everything she did. So when Keiko leapt for the nearest Gillian and sliced her blade from right to left across its masked face, Chiakki did the same, leaping towards the nearest Gillian to slice its blade from left to right. Should Keiko wish for Chiakki to attack something different or do something different, Keiko only needed to think it and Chiakki would do it.

With a combination of knowing what would happen with the Gillian because of the previous night, and because Kenpachi, Shuuhei and Inoue-san were actually helping this time, the group was quickly downing the Gillian, one after the other. Despite the fact the group was a combination of so many different powers and personalities, they all worked together fairly well, either helping out a comrade when it was needed, or moving in such a way that he or she didn't get in someone else's way. Within minutes, the entire swarm was gone, and when Keiko returned to the ground, Chiakki reforming with her, she wasn't even remotely tired because of the short amount of time she had to keep her bankai going.

Before she could say a few good words to everyone, someone yelling her name caught her attention. Quickly whirling around towards the voice, Keiko raised an eyebrow. "Soifon?"

"Keiko!" the Second Squad Captain yelled again, running towards the group. Once reaching them, she stopped and panted, bent over at the waist, her hands grasping her knees.

"What are you doing here? Did Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou recall the mission?" Keiko asked, brow furrowed.

"No," Soifon shook her head, still panting for air. "You have to return to Soul Society."

"What? Why?"

"Don't ask. You need to go, and you need to go now, the three of you," she replied, quickly glancing towards Shuuhei and Kenpachi.

Keiko did not like the fear she felt emanating from her mentor, not just because it was so rare that Soifon-oneesan was ever scared, but because she was being told to return to Soul Society without any _reason_. Something was not right. Without a word, Keiko glanced towards Shuuhei and Kenpachi before nodding and following Soifon back through the Senkai Gate to return to Soul Society. At first glance, everything seemed normal - it was a quiet and slow day with few people about.

"What's going on?" Keiko asked, hurrying up a bit to catch up to and walk beside Soifon. The older woman only shook her head and lead the small group further into Seireitei until they were at the meeting room. Yamamoto-Genryusai-soutaichou sat in his chair with Sasakibe-fukutaichou standing behind him. Immediately, Keiko walked up to him and knelt before him. "Why was I called back from the world of the living, Soutaichou?"

"I ordered Soifon-taichou to find you and bring you back to Seireitei because sometime after you left for your mission, The Scroll of Binding was stolen," the older man replied solemnly, quickly getting straight to the point rather than beat around the bush. And Keiko felt as though she had been backhanded in the face. "We do not know who has taken it, or when exactly it was taken."

Immediately, Keiko's heart was in her mouth. She found it hard to breathe. Heart pounding, perspiration forming on her brow, she stared at the floor, breathing heavily.

"What's this Scroll a' Binding shit?" she heard Kenpachi ask.

"It's a scroll which contains the incantations to redo Keiko's seals," Soifon spoke quietly from the back. "Without it, we can't redo them."

"So.. what's tha problem? I was always under the impression that they were only redone as often as they were as a precaution. If she keeps calm n doesn't do anything outta tha ordinary, it shouldn' be a problem, should it?" he asked.

"The problem is not that the seals cannot be redone," Keiko finally opened her mouth, though continued to gasp for air as though she were drowning. "The problem is that the scroll also contains two other incantations. One to get rid of the seals entirely, another to trigger the riot."

"Oh," was all Kenpachi could say.

Keiko could slowly feel her world collapse around her. Muscles weakening, she let her body relax so that her forearms and her knees were the only things keeping her from falling face first into the ground. That scroll had been the only thing that ever kept her from being afraid. With it gone, she was terrified. It was hard to breathe.. hard to think.. hard to do anything except curl up and be afraid. And then it hit her: she needed to be contained. Raising her head, she sat up on her knees and stared at Yamamoto-soutaichou. "Send me to the Shishinro."

"What?" she could hear both Shuuhei and Soifon question at the same time.

"The scroll is in the wrong hands, no matter who has it... Even if the seals are released by mistake, I am a threat to everyone. I need to be contained for all of Soul Society's sake. I need to be sent to the Shishinro."

"So be it," Yamamoto-soutaichou acquiesced. "I agree with the precaution, and had even hoped you would suggest it before I did. Gather what things you can, then Soifon-taichou will accompany you there."

The moment Keiko left the building, Shuuhei spoke up: "Are you sure you want to do this?" He followed her, with Soifon, towards Squad 9. "You heard what he said, he was only going to suggest it, not like he's forcing you."

"I know," Keiko replied quietly, staring at the ground. "But you have to realize it is for everyone's safety. If I don't, and something happens..."

"I know," Shuuhei sighed with a shrug. He was not going to be the knight in shining armor, he was not going to take her in his arms to kiss and hold her, he wasn't going to promise her that he'd figure something out because, honestly, none of it would make anyone feel better because it was _reality _- there was nothing else any one could do.

When the group reached Squad 9, Soifon waited outside while Keiko and Shuuhei walked into the main house. Keiko, unable to look at anyone, stared at the floor while Shuuhei shook his head at every member of the Squad that tried to welcome them back. He followed her into her office as well as her sleeping chambers, standing near the door like a body guard as he watched her get some things together. It was odd to watch her because she moved around as though she were in a daze, as though she were half dead. He had never seen her act this way before, and it seemed so unlike her. He was actually startled when she spoke up.

"I want you to stay here and explain things to everyone. Sorry to say, but you're going to have to play Captain for a while, until everything is sorted out," she smiled weakly.

Where had Keiko gone? This woman standing before him was so small and weak. Part of him wanted to cradle her in his arms, but another part of him knew he had to be strong for her. With all the strength he could muster, he grinned at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, giving her a quick squeeze. "Just leave everything to me, Kei. Think of this as a vacation!" He heard her chuckle softly.

Turning to him, she leaned up and kissed his cheek, a smile (which he was pretty certain was forced) on her lips as she squeezed his shoulder before leaving. Shuuhei let a sigh pass his lips before he turned to the Third through Fifth Seats of the Squad. "Get everyone here. There's a lot to explain..."

* * *

"I'll try and visit you as much as I can," Soifon spoke up, standing outside the Shishinro, Keiko standing within. "But right now, I need to return to Yamamoro-Genryusai-soutaichou. He's planning on sending the Onmitsukido out to find out where the scroll went. And you know them, they won't cut any corners in the investigation because it's connected to you."

"I know, and thank you," Keiko smiled weakly. "I should be fine in a day or two, I just need some time for realization to sink in. Go, I'll be alright," she strengthened the smile.

Soifon smiled in return, nodded once before closing and locking the door.

Finally alone for the first time in days, Keiko sighed and just laid down on the floor where she was. Her mind was nothing but a cauldron of chaos - unsure what to do, what to say, what to think, anything. All she knew was that she was tired and weary, and she wanted to sleep. It was hard, but she eventually calmed her body and forced it to sleep.

When she finally woke, it was late at night, or so the thin slight of a window told her. Groaning softly, her body not used to sleeping on a metal floor, she slowly sat up, curling her legs beneath her as she rubbed her neck. For a few moments, her mind was blank, only registering the aches and pains in her body, but it didn't take her mind long to recall the fear and terror it felt hours ago. Closing her eyes, she shifted to bring her knees to her chest, arms wrapping around them. She lost track of time as her mind argued with itself - every thing will be fine, there's no need to panic - no, not true, you should be scared; what if the worst happens?

Keiko would have spent hours more arguing with herself, but when the door to her prison was opened, she abruptly opened her eyes and looked up. Shuuhei walked towards her with a tray of food. "Hey," she smiled at him as he sat down before her, placing the tray between them.

He countered her smile with a grin of his own. "How are you doing?"

"Better than earlier," she nodded, taking a piece of bread from the tray to munch on. "What did you tell the Squad?"

"The truth," he replied, leaning back on his palms. "Every single bit of the truth."

Keiko cringed: "How did they take it?"

"Fine, actually. They were surprised, obviously, but you've proven yourself to them. If Yamamoto-soutaichou would let them, they'd join in on the investigation."

Keiko chuckled softly. "I shouldn't be surprised, should I?" Shuuhei shook his head. With a soft sigh, Keiko finished off the bread before looking back up to him. "I wonder if the Gillian have anything to do with the scroll missing..."

"I think someone would notice a Hollow showing up and trying to steal something from Soul Society."

"That's not what I meant," she scowled as he laughed at her. "What I mean is, I wonder if they're connected."

"Could be, but at the same time, it could be some newbie taking a dare and stealing something from the Soutaichou."

"If -that's- the truth, I will literally tear that Shinigami a new one," she muttered, bringing her knees to her chest again and resting her chin on top. "But.. I don't know.. I'm seriously beginning to think the Gillian and the scroll are connected. What are the chances of two separate events, so rare and strange in their own right, to happen at the -same- time?"

"You might be right," Shuuhei shrugged. "And you'll have plenty of time to think about it, all cooped up in this huge.. empty.. place." For effect, he tilted his head back and stared towards the ceiling. Aside from Keiko and himself, the huge room was empty. "Then again, I'm sure you'll have some company. Yamamoto-soutaichou wouldn't let anyone from Squad 9 take over guard duty because he probably figures one of us will let you out, but Kenpachi volunteered his Squad to take shifts."

Keiko raised an eyebrow. Apparently, the short nap she had taken, coupled with Shuuhei's presence, had drastically calmed her, because she actually laughed. "Really? I don't know whether to just laugh or feel privileged. The great Squad 11 reduced to babysitting."

He smirked. "That may be true, but that Squad respects you almost as much as our own Squad. A lot of them are, of course, still peeved Kenpachi -didn't- beat you, but, because of you, they got to see their Captain blow his load, so to speak. Besides, Kenpachi himself respects you, that kinda' forces his Squad to do the same."

Her nose scrunched up at Shuuhei's analogy, but she smiled none-the-less. For a few hours, the Captain and her lieutenant spoke quietly about anything and, well, everything. Keiko had been pretty certain that he only did it to keep her mind off other unpleasant thoughts, and eventually she realized he did all that because he genuinely cared. When it was getting late, he finally left her, promising he and other members of the Squad would come visit her throughout the next day.

Alone for the second time, Keiko sighed, reaching for the blanket she had brought with her. After curling it into a tight pillow, she placed it down on the floor and rested her head against it, closing her eyes to sleep, hopefully, dreamlessly.

* * *

**Shishinro**  
The prison where Rukia was held during the Soul Society arc. Edited with ObliviousWarrior8's help.

Another fairly short chapter. But, as things go, the story is coming close to an end!

As always, while I may not respond to every single review, I'm always thankful for them, especially if they point out mistakes I can fix.

_Actual BLEACH-verse and characters (c) to all the respective people.  
Akuuno Keiko (c) me._


	17. Chapter 17

Over the days, Keiko quickly realized that she barely had a moment to herself. Every day, she would have at least four visitors on top of her very talkative guards. Soifon-oneesan visited as often as possible, which was no more than once every few days, while Shuuhei would be the one to bring her dinner every night. Her other two meals were brought by at least two of any number of her Squad members. There were also the random visits from the other Captains, including Ukitake-taichou as well as Unohana-taichou, the latter always fussing over Keiko to make sure she was healthy, what with "such an unhealthy atmosphere she was currently living in!"

When night time came around, one or two of her fellow Onimitsukido members would drop by to let her know how the investigation was going. As they had always worked in secrecy, and always -would- work in secrecy, to keep their identities secret, they would be sure to wear only the normal Shinigami uniform and identify themselves to the Squad 11 guards as members of Squad 9. Considering all Squads ranged from 300-500 members, and Squads were never familiar enough with one another to know -every- member of another Squad, the ploy worked easily enough.

And then there was the stragest of all. Every few nights, Kenpachi himself would take over guard duty, every so often bringing Yachiru along because the young girl would beg him to. When those nights rolled around, the young lieutenant would recount her entire day for Keiko, expressing the exciting parts with loud and energetic dialogue. Eventually, though, Yachiru would pass out, what with it being so late at night. The rest of those nights would generally pass in silence, the two Captains fairly comfortable with one another's auras. The nights Yachiru didn't accompany Kenpachi, Keiko would ask him various questions about his training, some times giving advice and always reminding him that she believed he could do it.

Weeks passed, and from the information passed on to her, Keiko knew that no progress had been made. The day of which her seals were to be redone had long past, but Keiko had only briefly worried about it because, like Kenpachi had said, they were only redone as often as they were as a precaution. Sure, overall, being stuck in a prison with hardly anything to do got boring real quick, but she was never alone. It was the one and only thing that caused her to keep her sanity.

One night, some hours after Shuuhei had left, Keiko laid down to finally get some sleep. But, the moment she closed her eyes, she felt a bolt of static run over her skin. Gasping softly, the Captain quickly sat up, rubbing her arms and staring at the goosebumps on her skin. Some thing was not right. Keiko got to her feet and made her way over to the window, golden eyes staring out over Seiritei. Without warning, merely fifty feet away, an explosion went off, smoke mushrooming into the air. From surprise, Keiko literally fell onto her back, groaning as her head cracked against the metal floor.

"Move," she heard Kenpachi's growl nearing her prison.

Scrambling onto her feet, ignoring the throbbing at the back of her head, Keiko ran to the door and stood up on her tip toes to peer out the barred window. "What's going on?" she called out, watching Kenpachi shove the Squad 11 guards out of his way. After a soft jingle, Keiko backed away from the door, which was was pushed open to allow Kenpachi to stand in the doorway.

"Let's go," he said before turning and walking away.

Keiko paused at the door, staring outside and quickly weighing her options. With a groan, because she had a feeling she would later regret it, she ran outside for the first time in over a month. "You going to tell me what's going on?" she asked as she caught up to the big man.

"Stop asking questions you know the answers to," he muttered, not even bothering to look back at her.

So, the feelings she had been having were true - there were Hollow in Soul Society. "How?!" she demanded, but instantly knew it was a stupid question; how would Kenpachi know? With another groan, she just shut up and followed him, her eyes widening as they moved closer to the center of Seireitei. Bodies of various Shinigami lay scattered on the ground, blood soaked into the walls, fires burning every where. How could Hollow do this..? It didn't seem.. normal.

"Keiko?!" The 9th Squad Captain turned to look at Soifon. "What the hell are you doing here?!" the older woman yelled, signaling a troop of her Squad to move out to the west. The older woman was already out of her Captain's haori, her Onmitsukido uniform ripped and bleeding in various places.

Rather than answer, Keiko countered with a question of her own: "What the hell is going on?"

"Forget it," Soifon shook her head, making her way over to her protege. "Get back to the Shishinro before something happens to you! We'll take care of every thing."

"Look around you, Soifon! You need my help! Why else would Kenpachi have gone to free me?" the younger woman shook her head.

Before Soifon could reply, another explosion detonated in the central courtyard. Without another word, the two Captains quickly turned and, with Kenpachi, ran to where the explosion occurred. The first thing Keiko noticed was that every Captain and lieutenant was in the area, all staring up at the roof of one of the larger buildings. Her eyes followed everyone's gaze to see Matsumoto-fukutaichou being held by a silver haired man, a zanpakuto at her throat. "Who the hell is that?" Keiko asked.

Shuuhei, who had arrived shortly after her, muttered: "Ichimaru."

The traitor? What was he doing here? Was this all his doing?

"Heyo!" the man in question called out, his lips turned up in his never-ending smile. "It's good to see ya'll again!"

"Let her go, Ichimaru!" someone in the crowd yelled.

"Nah, can't do that yet!" the traitor replied, moving his zanpakuto so it glinted in the firelight. The look on Matsumoto-fukutaichou's face was a mixture of fear and confusion, but she didn't move or make a sound. "See, I'm here to try a lil' experiment," he continued, his eyes so thick-lidded it was impossible to tell where he was looking.

That's when Keiko noticed it. Eyes wide in horror, she stared at a parchment in Ichimaru's obi. "He's got the scroll!" she gasped, feeling her heart begin to pound.

"What?" Soifon quickly looked at Keiko, then back at Ichimaru. With a quiet curse, she ran towards Yamamoto-soutaichou to let him know of it.

"Ya' see, some time ago, Aizen found out about this -_disease_-" he stressed the word, "and, well, he wanted to find out a bit more about it!"

Keiko barely realized she was backing up, her eyes wide, staring at the scroll. She never heard Yamamoto-soutaichou and Soifon speaking: "We have to get that scroll away from him." "He'll kill Matsumoto-fukutaichou if we go near him..."

"Well, where's the birthday girl, maybe she can explain it!" Ichimaru laughed.

Keiko had the distinct feeling he was staring at her. Shaking her head slowly, she continued to back up, refusing to believe any of this was happening.

"No? Oh, well, guess I'll do the honors! See, first, Aizen wanted to test this diseased girl, to see if the rumors were true. How could he do that, you might ask? Why, send out large numbers of Hollow! He knew that eventually, you silly people would want to send a Captain to investigate, and who would the most logical choice be but the newest Captain?"

All the Captains and lieutenants, as well as Squad 9 and probably Squad 11, knew about Keiko's condition. Those few Shinigami in the area who had no clue about it turned to stare at Keiko.

"So, when the newest Captain-chan showed up, Aizen sent a large number of Gillian to see what Captain-chan would do! And, oh, boy, she didn't disappoint! Took out those Menos Grande without a second look!" Ichimaru slashed his free hand through the air for effect. "Well, since Captain-chan was living up to Aizen's expectations, he decided to have little old me pay a visit to our dear Seireitei and find a rumored scroll. See, this scroll," he reached for his obi and pulled the paper free to wag in the air, eliciting a cry from Keiko, "has some nifty incantations on it! And -now-" his thumb and middle fingers gripped the top of the scroll and he flicked his wrist to make the old paper unroll, "he wants me to finish the experiment!" Suddenly, the air around Ichimaru grew dark and Matsumoto actually gasped, feeling his malicious intent as though it were tangible. "You don't want to disappoint Aizen, do you, Captain-chan?"

"Get away from me!" Keiko suddenly screamed, gripping her head and bending forward, the few Shinigami around her gasping and immediately backing up. She knew what was coming, and she knew there was no way of stopping it; no one would risk killing Matsumoto when there wasn't even a guarantee that they'd get the scroll back.

Her screams were like a cue, because once people started to move away, Ichimaru began reading from the scroll, the alien language flowing from his traitorous tongue as though he spoke it fluently.

As the first words passed his lips, Keiko screamed in agony, falling to her knees as she continued to clutch her head. Without warning, black flames erupted from her back in the form of her tattoos, her haori literally disintegrating from the heat as she fell forward into her hands, zanpakuto falling from her back and bouncing off to the side. Screams continued to rip from Keiko's throat, her eyes shut tightly, blood beginning to seep out from under her eyelids and pool on the ground before her. Pure and utter pain blinded her vision, and she could feel the world around her disappear.

**The First Incantation**. The seals were gone.

As quickly as they had formed, the flames were gone, leaving Keiko's back bare and tattoo-less. But she kept screaming because the pain kept washing over her in waves. Slowly, her hair fell from it's clasp and began to grow, changing from its normal black to red. It pooled around her like the blood from her eyes, growing longer and longer as her body began to shake. Her screams suddenly stopped, and it was like a string had been pulled - her upper body snapped up from the floor so that she appeared to be sitting on her knees, her head falling back, lolling from side to side as though all the muscles in her neck were gone. Arms hanging limp at her sides, palms turned upwards, her fingers twitched as her nails grew into long, thick claws, drawing blood from the cuticles. When Ichimaru stopped speaking, silence seemed to cover all of Seireitei except for the crackling of the fires. Keiko's eyes suddenly opened, and a few Shinigami gasped in horror. Her eyes were pure and utter white - no pupils, no irises.

**The Second Incantation.** The riot released.

Keiko was no more.


	18. Chapter 18

**WARNING! **This Chapter, compared to everything else I have written, is fairly graphic, and in turn, should probably be rated M. I doubt this will deter anyone from reading, but, I figured I might as well give a little heads up.

* * *

The moment Ichimaru had begun to read from the scroll, Soifon started yelling, screaming for everyone to back up and get away from Keiko. But, like the rest of the crowd, her yells died down, and all she could do was stare as her protege screamed and writhed in pain. Tears threatened Soifon's eyes, almost -feeling- Keiko's pain through the younger woman's screams and cries of agony. No words would reach her lips as she continued to watch, continued to stare, dumb-founded, as Keiko's hair changed.. as her body snapped back.. as her eyes opened. She could feel the change in the younger woman's aura and knew that Keiko was gone.

"Kei..?"

The soft voice pushed some sense into Soifon, and she turned to see Shuuhei staring at Keiko's body. The Captain knew he wanted to run forward, but she also knew it would be suicide. Reaching out, Soifon grabbed Shuuhei's upper arm tightly and moved closer to him to murmur: "That's not Keiko anymore.." When Shuuhei turned to look at Soifon, she felt her heart break just from the looks on his face - confusion, pain, sorrow, denial. Soifon could only shake her head.

Another gasp rippled through the crowd, and immediately, Soifon looked back over to Keiko. She had slumped forward and a black aura ignited around her body. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled in warning, and the Captain glanced up, noticing that two Shinigami were closer to Keiko then they should be. Eyes widening, Soifon yelled out: "Get -away- from her!" But it was too late.

In the blink of an eye, Keiko leapt at the nearest Shinigami, her fist slamming into his face so hard that the bone of his nose was forced back into his head, straight into his brain, instantly killing him as blood and brain matter actually oozed out his ears. But she didn't slow down. She leapt again at the second Shinigami, this time a hellish cry ripping from her throat as she grabbed his shoulders, her claws sinking into his soft flesh before her mouth, open wide and showing off sharp fangs, closed down on his neck. He fell, Keiko on top of him, her hands refusing to let go of her prey, even as she pulled her head back, ripping out the Shinigami's throat, neck bones cracking with ease, veins and arteries snapping apart like string. Unlike his companion, his death would be slower; he would lie there, seizing until he bled out.

Soifon clasped both hands over her mouth, afraid that she might throw up from the grotesque display she had just witnessed. As a Captain and as Soushireikan, Soifon had never witness such acts of brutality before. Hollow would always kill mindlessly, eat the souls of their victims, but never had there been a bloody mess as what Keiko had just done.It was nothing more than proof that Keiko was truely gone, replaced by a mindless animal. The crowd backed up as far as humanly possible, all afraid that they would be Keiko's next victim.

Blood and gore dripping from Keiko's mouth, her entire face blood-stained, she moved off the body of her second victim and fell to her knees. Her head fell forward, and the long clots of red hair fell over her face, covering it from view as her arms fell limply at her sides. All she did was _sit _there, her aura sparking and growing around her.

"What is she doing?" Shuuhei whispered, his face contorted in all the emotions he felt, his voice raspy as though he had cotton in his throat.

"Waiting," Soifon replied, her eyes glued to Keiko's body. Brow ruffled, Shuuhei turned to look at her. "This has happened to her once before. The first time the Chishio no Rouzeki is ever triggered is when a Shinigami reaches a certain age. What happens is very similar to what you've seen so far, but it takes much longer for the mindlessness to come. That was why we were able to get the seals on her in time, to prevent her from losing herself completely..."

* * *

_"What.. what's happening to me?!" a much younger Keiko screamed, staring at her hands as thick claws formed from her nails. Not caring if she ripped her face off in the process, she reached up to quickly remove the head and face covers of her Onmitsukido uniform. Tears streamed down her face, both from the pain coursing through her body and the strange things -happening- to her._

_Grasping onto the younger woman's shoulders, Yoruichi quickly turned to yell: "Soifon! Get Soutaichou-dono! Tell him what's happened, now!"_

_"H-hai!" a younger Soifon stuttered staring at her comrade. Gasping as she saw Keiko's hair change color, she quickly turned and ran._

_"Shihouin-sama.. what's -wrong- with me..?" Keiko whimpered, oblivious to the tears of blood she was spilling._

_"You'll be alright, Keiko. Just stay with me," the older woman forced a smile._

_"But.. but I want to kill.."_

* * *

"For the first time, the mindlessness has sunk in.. but it hasn't used Keiko's body before. It's waiting.. adjusting.." Soifon murmured, remembering the first time she had ever seen the Chishio no Rouzeki.

"Captain-chan continues to not disappoint!" Ichimaru finally spoke up, laughing gleefully. "It appears Aizen's experiment was a success! Well, then, I guess I'll be leaving you folks to deal with the mess!" With that, the traitor laughed, let go of Matsumoto and disappeared with the scroll.

No one spoke. No one moved. Every single Shinigami in the area, Captain and newbie alike, just stared. After closing her eyes and shaking her head, Soifon looked up and turned towards Genryusai-soutaichou. Although there was no emotion apparent on the Commander General's face, Soifon was certain he was feeling just as she was - hurt. Without the scroll, there was nothing they could do. When he nodded, ever so slightly so that she was the only one who noticed it, Soifon sighed and bowed her head. Leaving Shuuhei's side, she weaved through the crowd until she was standing before Kenpachi, the big man, like everyone else, staring at Keiko. When he finally noticed her, he looked down.

"You know what you have to do, don't you?" Soifon spoke quietly, hating every word that left her mouth.

"What?" Kenpachi raised an eyebrow, staring at the smaller woman.

Soifon sighed again. "Keiko wasn't just trying to teach you how to use your bankai... She was training you to -kill- her."

"What tha hell are you talkin about?" Kenpachi snarled.

"It all started out as a ploy," Soifon scowled, turning to watch Keiko again. "Saying that she would teach you, that was a lie at first, a cover. She needed to see if you really were as strong as everyone said you were. When you proved that you were, she knew that you would be the one to help her. Yeah, she started to actually -want- to help you, but always, in the back of her mind, she was making sure that you'd be able to do it."

"Yer fuckin crazy..."

"Don't you get it?!" Soifon started to yell, whirling around to stare up at Kenpachi. "She knew that you were the only one who could kill her if it came to this! Keiko is -GONE-! That -thing- over there," she pointed behind her, "is just the shell of her body! Her mind is gone! If we don't do something about it, if you don't kill her, she will kill -everyone- in Soul Society! Do you -think- she'd want that?! Think about it!" The tears finally fell past their borders, flowing down Soifon's cheeks.

For a few moments, Kenpachi stared at Soifon, her words slowly sinking in. Tilting his head up, he brought his eye to settle upon Keiko, to stare at her as she just -sat- there, her aura growing with each passing moment. Was that the truth? Was everything she did for him, everything she put herself through only to make sure that in the end he would kill her? Everything was beginning to make sense. That didn't mean Kenpachi had to like it.

With a sneer, Kenpachi looked away from Keiko, his eye falling on 69. Apparently he hadn't heard a word of what the amazoness said, because he only continued to stare at Keiko. The look on his face was so... disgusting. Love. Yeah, Kenpachi could recognize that when he saw it. And that weakness disgusted him. Closing his eye, the big man sighed, trying to get his own thoughts in order. So, the woman wanted him to kill her if this shit happened. Guess he couldn't disappoint.

"Whatever," Kenpachi muttered, literally shoving the amazoness and any other Shinigami out of his way. Without unsheathing his zanpakuto, he walked right up to Keiko, feeling the mindless, primeval energy her aura gave off. It wanted to kill, not because it needed to eat, not because it needed to survive, just because. As he neared her, he could feel a spark in her aura, as though, without looking, she knew someone or something was nearing her. Reaching out, because he really didn't know what else to do, he tried to grasp her shoulder, to force her head back so he could look at her.

But she was fast. Her closest arm flicked out, swiping his arm away before her other arm followed through, her fingers curled tightly, claws flying swiftly at his face. Kenpachi quickly leaned back, barely avoiding her hand. Apparently, this infuriated Keiko, because she shrieked, quickly getting to her feet and lashing out, repeatedly swiping at his face with each hand, left, then right, repeated, causing Kenpachi to back up. Getting down right fed up of this tactic, Kenpachi reached out after dodging yet another swipe, grabbing her wrist with one hand and forcefully raising it into the air, his hand other curling into a fist and slamming it right into her solar plexus. It stunned her, as he felt the muscles he had a hold of weaken, but only for a moment. With another shriek, Keiko leaned into him, quickly spinning around with such strength it forced Kenpachi to loosen his hold on her wrist. She followed up the spin by using gravity to pour as much power as she could into her elbow, which she smashed right into his chest. There was enough force in the hit that Kenpachi's body flew through the air, stopped only by the wall his back barreled into.

"Well shit," he coughed as dust and debris rained down on him. Getting to his feet, Kenpachi reached up and ripped his eye patch off, his own aura once more flaring out around him. Fighting with Keiko without her seals. It was one of the things he wanted more than -anything-, but how was he supposed to enjoy a fight where his opponent acted like nothing more than an animal? There was nothing -to- enjoy.

Before Kenpachi could do anything else, Keiko dashed forward, leaping into the air and falling down towards him, her clawed hands once more aimed at his face. Unable to completely dodge her movements a second time, despite the fact she wasn't as fast as she had been with her bankai, her fingers slashed through his right shoulder, blood splurting out of the fresh wound, covering his shoulder and the right side of his face. For a moment, Kenpachi stood, surprised. The wound didn't hurt, but he could actually feel a tingling near the ripped flesh. The animal, oblivious to his pause, continued its assault, slashing out with another hand, but Kenpachi, quickly leaving his daze, once more grabbed a wrist before spinning both himself and Keiko around in a full circle and let her go, flinging her body into the building opposite of him. She crashed right through it, leaving Kenpachi to mutter under his breath and stalk right after her.

Leaping from the wreckage when Kenpachi was close enough, Keiko sunk her claws right into his shoulders, and her mouth snapped out at his throat as he fell onto the ground with her on top, straddling his chest. Kenpachi growled, bringing both forearms up in front of him and pressing them into her neck to prevent her from ripping out his throat. For a few moments, they struggled, Keiko desperately trying to get at his throat while Kenpachi did his best to ward her off. After removing one of his arms from her neck, he pulled it back, hand curling into another fist before he slammed it into the side of her head, dazing her long enough so that he could throw her off him and get up. His hand snaked out and he quickly unsheathed his zanpakuto, the blade actually shining.

Keiko sat on the ground, squatted on her haunches, her arms between her legs, palms pressing into the ground like a cat. Her hair was a mess, dirt and blood clumped into the long red strands. She stared up at Kenpachi, snarling, her claws digging into the ground

Breathing heavily, Kenpachi merely stared right back at her, his right hand tightly clasping the hilt of his zanpakuto. So, this was what Keiko was like when her blood rioted. He could feel her strength emanating from her aura, and he could nearly admit that at this point she was stronger than him. But, she was mindless - she couldn't use her mind, couldn't recognize her surroundings. The only thing on her mind was blood, of spilling it, whether it was Kenpachi's or her own. Because of that, he had the advantage. He could almost admit, as well, that if -this- happened to him, that if Kenpachi lost his mind and acted like an animal, he'd probably want to be killed too, simply because he wouldn't be able to enjoy a fight. "Guess you'll get your wish," he muttered to Keiko, fully aware she didn't understand him.

The animal ran at him on all fours, the image of that alone disturbing by the simple fact that the body was human, but everything else about it was not. When it neared it's prey, it was on it's feet, lashing out in a frenzy of swipes. Kenpachi did what he could to dodge the blows, but when one would wind up being too close to hitting him, he would block with his zanpakuto. Pain, apparently, meant nothing to the animal, because it repeatedly cut itself on the blade every time it was used to block. It moved back, then quickly forward on Kenpachi's side, mouth wide as it once more aimed for his neck. Instead, it got a mouth full of zanpakuto as Kenpachi brought it up to once more block it's attack. Snarling, Keiko bit down on the sword, the corners of her lips splitting and bleeding. Quickly, it let go and jumped backwards to squat down on the ground, it's eyes, though nothing but white, staring at Kenpachi.

Shaking his head, Kenpachi just stared at Keiko, lowering his blade. Was this how things were really going to play out? Was he really going to have to kill her and -never- get his rematch? A glint of metal caught his eye. Glancing to the side, Kenpachi eyed Keiko's zanpakuto, just lying on the ground where it had fallen from her back. And suddenly, quite possibly the most stupid idea came to him. Sheathing his own zanpakuto, keeping his eye on Keiko because he could feel her staring at him, he took a few steps to his right until he could bend down and pick up her zanpakuto. It was not released, so in his hands, it was nothing more than a katana. Fingers curling around the hilt, he just stood where he was, watching Keiko. Sooner or later, she would lash out at him.

Quietly, Kenpachi watched her, noticing the twitch of her haunches and hands. When it seemed Keiko lost patience, she shrieked and leapt at him, yet again, her hands slashing out at his face and neck. Dodging all of her attacks, except for one that actually passed him, two of her fingers slicing into his left cheek, he stepped forward, grasping her zanpakuto and shoving the blade right into her stomach, the spot, he hoped, where she generally impaled herself to release Chiakki. His free hand moved behind Keiko to press into her back and force her body against his chest.

Two very different shrieks ripped from Keiko's throat as she was impaled, one her own, the other Chiakki's. Blood began to pour from Keiko's mouth as well as her stomach and back where the blade had been run through, and her body began to writh and seize, her black aura sparking erratically around them. Ignoring Keiko herself, Kenpachi focused on her shadow instead, really hoping that his idea would work. As if on cue, Keiko's shadow disappeared and Chiakki shrieked as it stepped away from Keiko's body.

**"What are you doing to my holy sanctuary?!"** the demon screamed at Kenpachi. **"How DARE you try to mimic our sacred pact!"**

Kenpachi snorted, watching the demon. "I don't know if you've noticed," he grunted, using all of his strength to keep Keiko's body, and thus the blade, in place, to make sure Keiko didn't rip her entire stomach out, "but your 'sanctuary' as you put it, is dying."

**"Let go of her!"** the demon continued to scream and shriek.

"Can't do that, afraid," he smirked. "Because when I let go of her, she'll rip her own stomach out and die. And you know what happens to -you- if she dies, don't you?"

Chiakki could only scream and shriek in response, all those negative emotions Kenpachi had once felt from it now flooding from its aura. Suddenly, Chiakki silenced. **"What do you want, human?"**

"You're her zanpakuto. You know what's in her blood. Get rid of it."

**"Why should I?!"** it screamed in response. **"The taint in her blood feeds my passion! It's fire is unlike anything I have ever felt before!"**

"Well, if -you- want to die.." Kenpachi trailed off, making a big show of letting Keiko go.

Again, Chiakki shrieked, its chains rattling furiously. **"STOP, human!"** Silence fell between the two, except for the piteous cries of Keiko's dying body. Stepping out from behind Keiko, Chiakki walked right up to Kenpachi and lifted a hand, the skin red in color, to wipe the blood off his cheek. **"What she will no longer be able to give me, I will take from you,"** it hissed before wiping its hand diagonally across its mask, leaving a trail of Kenpachi's blood. For a brief moment, the blood glowed, and Kenpachi stared at it.

Another shriek filled the air and Chiakki stepped backwards, disappearing in a swirl of red smoke which moved quickly through the air, straight into Keiko's mouth. Seconds later, black, viscous fluid dribbled from Keiko's mouth, down Kenpachi's chest as her body continued to shake. When the flow of liquid stopped, so did the shaking and her black aura literally disappeared.

Kenpachi quickly pulled her zanpakuto out of her stomach, letting the katana fall to the ground, but thankfully, no blood poured fourth; Chiakki would keep the pact it made with Kenpachi. Keeping his hand at her back, pressing her body against his so she wouldn't fall over, he waited, his own aura, although flaring freely without his eyepatch, calming and settling around them. A gasp emitted from the Shinigami all around as Keiko's hair, although still long, faded from red to black. When he finally felt her begin to move against him, he smirked and muttered, "What, not gonna' pass out on me?"

"If it'll make you feel better," she murmured. With a soft groan, she tried to move, but every muscle in her body screamed at her otherwise. She hurt. A lot. Sighing at that small defeat, she remained leaning again Kenpachi, eventually speaking up: "Why'd you do it? You were supposed to kill me."

Kenpachi shrugged, keeping his voice low as he replied: "You never gave up on me, so, why would I give up on you?" Yeah, maybe she had never really planned on helping him in the way she did, maybe she had only been using him at the beginning, but after spending so much time with the crazy woman, he had learned how sincere and truthful she really was. "Besides," he raised his voice, "I still want my rematch. Can't very well have that if yer dead."

Laughing, Keiko gained enough strength to move away from him and shake her head: "Well, I guess it's good to know you'll save my ass if I'm about to die just so you can get your rematch, huh?" Immediately, Shuuhei and Soifon were on her, Shuuhei pulling her body tightly against his, Soifon crying in relief.

Kenpachi simply smirked, disgusted with the displays of affection before him, but quite content with -himself-. Yeah, he had changed. He might not yet have his bankai, but he was different, and he was stronger for it. Turning around so his back was facing the happy reunion, he started off towards his Squad with only one thing on his mind: sake. He really needed a drink...

* * *

_Owari._

Am I mean? Am I a terrible horrible individual? Probably. But, I won't lie. From day -one-, my plan was to never actually show Kenpachi gaining his bankai. The reasoning is simple: No fan, no matter how avid, could ever, ever, -ever- do Kenpachi justice by creating a bankai for him. It just isn't possible, no matter how much anyone could wish otherwise.

I did, however, leave things open to interpretation as well as the possibility of further writing. That, however, depends on whether or not I am inspired to write more as well as if anyone would be -interested- if I wrote more. Only time will tell.

My one big note for this chapter, because I know at least -one- person is either going to point it out or have a problem with it is - Kenpachi picking up and using Keiko's zanpakuto. It has been said that it is "difficult" for a Shinigami to wield another Shinigami's zanpakuto, that Tousen is the only one, known, to have done it so far. But my reasoning for Kenpachi being able to do it is as follows: Ichigo vs. Kenpachi - Kenpachi grabs onto Ichigo's shikai and pulls it to himself without the slightest problem. Again, I stress -shikai-. And yes, I realize he doesn't "wield" Zangetsu, but, I think, being able to grab, barehanded, another Shinigami's zanpakuto and pretty much control where it went says something. If Kenpachi could do that, then I don't see much of a problem in his picking up, holding and stabbing Keiko's own zanpakuto, which isn't even released to it's shikai.

Edit: Amagai vs. Ichigo - Yes, for those of you that watch the filler, Agamai grabbed Zangetsu and used it to toss Ichigo away from him. However, the way in which it was animated, he had a much harder time doing so than Kenpachi did.


End file.
